This thesis examines how silence was understood by speakers of biblical Hebrew. Using the biblical books, Ben Sira, Dead Sea Scrolls, and inscriptions, it evaluates how seven lexemes referring to silence were used. Each reference was examined for clues to meaning, using syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations, parallels, glosses, antonyms, and causal relations. The early versions (Greek, Latin, Aramaic, Syriac) were consulted to see if they might shed further light on ancient understandings of these words. Semitic languages were also surveyed for potential cognates that might reveal diachronic semantic development. The chosen lexemes divided into two related domains: restraint (of sound, of action) and cessation (of sound, of motion, of life). Part 1 covers words indicating restraint. Part 2 covers words indicating cessation. Part 3 briefly introduces peripheral words. The conclusion offers some observations about the field as a whole, describing how the lexemes overlap and differ. Tables and diagrams are offered to represent the richness and versatility of this field graphically.

This thesis attempts to provide an encompassing account for the centuries-old question concerning how aspect and modality are grammaticalized in the verbal system in Biblical Hebrew. To this end, the semantics of the three verb forms qatal, yiqtol, and qotel are investigated by means of a theory-unbiased observation on the Biblical text. It is argued that Biblical Hebrew has an aspectual opposition of the perfective and the imperfective and that the two aspects are encoded by the verb forms qatal and qotel, respectively. Concerning the modal system in Biblical Hebrew, it is suggested that the Biblical Hebrew broadly distinguishes the realis and irrealis and that the irrealis is marked by a single verb form yiqtol. Finally, the verbs occasioned in the Book of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 are thoroughly examined in the light of the present study. The examination on the Isaiah passage consequently ascertains that the present study largely removes the existing obstacles in understanding Biblical Hebrew verb conjugations and lays the significant grounds toward the proper linguistic understanding of the Biblical text. / text

This study investigates the polysemy of the preposition מִן (min) in Biblical Hebrew. The complexity relating to the senses of this preposition has long been recognised, but existing sources differ about the primary sense of מִן (min), as well as the delimitation of the derived senses. In order to provide a more systematic account of the senses of מִן (min) the principled polysemy approach, which was developed by Tyler and Evans (2003), was employed. This methodology is grounded in the theoretical framework of cognitive semantics. The criteria provided for determining the primary sense point to a sense in which מִן (min) indicates both locational source and separation. These two elements are both present in the primary sense. By applying criteria for determining distinct senses, ten additional usages of מִן (min) were identified, namely, material source, partitive, cause, agent, origin, position, exception, comparison, negative consequence, and time. It was shown that all these senses are related to the primary sense in a substantiated way. A semantic network for the preposition מִן (min) was proposed in which it was shown that half of the senses are more related to the source element in the primary sense and the other half to the separation element of the primary sense. / MA (Semitic Languages), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study investigates the polysemy of the preposition מִן (min) in Biblical Hebrew. The complexity relating to the senses of this preposition has long been recognised, but existing sources differ about the primary sense of מִן (min), as well as the delimitation of the derived senses. In order to provide a more systematic account of the senses of מִן (min) the principled polysemy approach, which was developed by Tyler and Evans (2003), was employed. This methodology is grounded in the theoretical framework of cognitive semantics. The criteria provided for determining the primary sense point to a sense in which מִן (min) indicates both locational source and separation. These two elements are both present in the primary sense. By applying criteria for determining distinct senses, ten additional usages of מִן (min) were identified, namely, material source, partitive, cause, agent, origin, position, exception, comparison, negative consequence, and time. It was shown that all these senses are related to the primary sense in a substantiated way. A semantic network for the preposition מִן (min) was proposed in which it was shown that half of the senses are more related to the source element in the primary sense and the other half to the separation element of the primary sense. / MA (Semitic Languages), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2006. / Title from PDF title page screen. Advisor: Samuel D. Miller ; submitted to the School of Education. Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-120)

Initially the Esther text was disputed and discarded by the early Church fathers. More recently in the 20th and 21st centuries Christian scholarship has dramatized, distorted, culturalized, feminized, or even politicized it. Indeed, the book has scarcely been defined as divine or devotional. While it has received condemnation from scholars, theologians like Martin Luther concluded that it would be best eliminated from the canon altogether. This thesis seeks to bring the text of Esther back into consideration for valid Christological interpretation by presenting evidence of a typology of Christ as exhibited in God's plan of salvation. In making such an assessment, this thesis presents a lexically-based evaluation from the Hebrew content of various words and phrases from the text, as well as within the larger biblical text. Determining their meaning and usage will serve to elucidate whether the text strategically incorporates Christological connections evidencing of this claim. I consider and apply a popular typologically related assessment of figurative language and symbolism, which also provides diagnostic criteria for typologies. This research thus entails a broad and varied examination of the figurative language and diverse use of symbolism including allusion, intertextual referencing, narrative sequencing, and rhetorical devices among others. Consequently, this broadly-based analysis provides a rich array of evidence that supports a valid typology for Christ in His various roles including His messianic kingship within God's plan of salvation for mankind, as well as other key concepts within God's plan, or associated roles, for example that of Satan.

Psalms slip from cries of imprecation and lament to divine answer, from quoting the accusations and slander of the enemies to testifying to the character of Yahweh, from reflexive commands to communal imperatives. As these constructed voices and addressees oscillate, they create dialectics of distance and proximity, play with center and periphery, and fluctuate between presence and absence. The poetic devices of biblical Hebrew poetry allow for multiple voices to be heard and evoke experiences. The goal of this dissertation is to demonstrate, by using a lyric poetic approach, that voicing— especially shifts in voicing—contributes to the meaning of a psalm and lyric sequence. The Psalter calls to be read as lyric poetry, a voiced genre that is heard and overheard. The vocality of the Psalter invites hearers to listen to the dynamism of shifting voices, which create dialectics of distance and proximity, presence and absence. The three chapters of analysis explore the vocalic nature of lyric poetry. These chapters address twenty-five psalms in the Hebrew Psalter. The analyses of the ten individual psalms are sorted into two chapters based on the nature of the voicing they feature: psalms that feature shifts in addressee (Pss 23, 28, 32, 76, and 146) and psalms that featured shifts in both speaker and addressee (Pss 12, 46, 52, 91, and 94). The third chapter of analysis explores vocality in a lyric sequence, the Songs of the Ascents (Pss 120-134). The interpretation of these ten individual psalms as well as the fifteen-psalm lyric sequence demonstrate how the vocality of these lyric poems contribute to the construction of meaning and the cohesion of its respective text. This study makes contributions to biblical scholarship in two main areas: 1) it advances the conversation on voicing in Hebrew lyric poetry and 2) it applies a lyric approach to biblical Hebrew poetry. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The typological distinction between negative concord and double negation languages has received increasing attention over the past century beginning with Jespersen (1922). Multiple negation in Biblical Hebrew has been subject to mixed treatment in this regard. Some scholars have treated all multiple negation in Biblical Hebrew as emphatic (Gesenius, Kautzsch & Cowley 1910; Dahood 1975; Holmstedt 2016) while others have labeled these constructions as pleonastic (Jouon & Muraoka 2006). Snyman (2004) determines that Biblical Hebrew is neither a negative concord language nor a double negation language based upon his assessment that "BH does not exhibit multiple negation elements." In this thesis I explore a novel approach to evaluating the typological treatment of multiple negation in Biblical Hebrew. The criteria I use are derived from crosslinguistic observations made by Zeijlstra (2004a) and van der Auwera & van Alsenoy (2016), identifying the linguistic traits exclusive to negative concord languages (e.g. preverbal negative markers, paratactic negation, and banning true negative imperatives). I demonstrate the presence of these phenomena in Biblical Hebrew, determining it to be an NC language. I also discuss the implications these findings have on the current typology.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study represents an investigation of a set of BH connectives (רוּבֲעַבּ, ןַעַמְל, and ןֶפּ) as well as other grammatical constructions relevant to the lexical items. This investigation seeks to establish the datatypes which are relevant for distinguishing the meanings and/or senses that the BH connectives רוּבֲעַבּ, ןַעַמְל, and ןֶפּ may display. A literature overview of BH linguistics and existing BH lexica demonstrate that although current resources provide some useful information, there still lacks an adequate framework for describing the lexical items. On the one hand, linguistic descriptions of the connectives in BH linguistics fail to define the word class(es) and scope of the target lexemes, as well as the relations they indicate. None of the studies have structurally described the paradigmatic relation between the different types of purpose constructions. On the other hand, BH lexica show a variety of data types that are assumed to contribute towards both defining and distinguishing the meanings/senses of the lexical items we are concerned with; however, this information only partly helps in this endeavor. To describe more adequately the meaning and polysemic relationships of the lexemes, we relied on cognitive semantics (e.g., conceptual view of meaning, prototype theory, and semantic potential). We were also concerned with purpose/result constructions across languages in order to establish criteria for describing purpose constructions. On the basis of these investigations, we established a model for a semantic description of the target lexemes in addition to some criteria for distinguishing between purpose, result, cause, and reason constructions so that the different relations the target lexemes indicate might be identified. We also established some typological parameters of purpose constructions – such as verbal forms in the matrix, participant encoding, and the positioning patterns of purpose clauses. The value and validity of these criteria were then tested in an empirical investigation. The investigation established that ןַעַמְל, רוּבֲעַבּ, and ןֶפּ have a semantic potential that prompts the conceptualization of multiple relationships (e.g., ןַעַמְל: purpose, result, and reason) with varying scopes, among different levels. We were able to distinguish between the different relationships that the lexemes ןַעַמְל, רוּבֲעַבּ, and ןֶפּ display by relying on the notions of purpose, result, cause, and reason, as defined in cognitive linguistic circles. We also identified the prototypical and less prototypical meanings of the lexemes. This study establishes the value of the model employed, but also reveals that our theoretical model has some limitations. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie verteenwoordig ‘n ondersoek van ‘n stel Bybels-Hebreeuse verbindingswoorde (רוּבֲעַבּ, ןַעַמְל en ןֶפּ) sowel as die grammatikale konstruksies wat relevant is vir die beter verstaan van hierdie leksikale items. Hierdie ondersoek poog in besonder om datatipes vas te stel wat ter sake is vir betekenisonderskeidings wat רוּבֲעַבּ, ןַעַמְל en ןֶפּ vertoon. 'n Literatuur-oorsig van bestaande Bybels-Hebreeuse bronne (bv. grammatikas en lexika) demonstreer dat, alhoewel hierdie bronne nuttige inligting verskaf, hulle nie ‘n toereikende raamwerk bied vir ‘n noukeurige beskrywing van die leksikale items nie. Die grammatikale studies, aan die een kant, versuim om die items se woordklas(se) te definieer. Weinig aandag word ook gewy aan die reikwydte en/of ter sake sintagmaties en paradigmatiese verbande van die ter sake konstruksies. Die leksika, aan die ander kant, wys wel op 'n verskeidenheid van datatipes wat veronderstel is om by te dra tot beide die definisies en betekenisonderskeidings. Hierdie inligting is egter dikwels nie genoegsaam nie. Om ‘n meer toereikende beskrywing van hulle betekenis te maak, asook om die polisemiese struktuur van die lekseme te bepaal, het ons gebruik gemaak van insigte van die kognitiewe semantiek (bv. prototipe-teorie, en die konsep ‘semantiese potensiaal’). Ons het ook doelkonstruksies in ander tale bestudeer. Kriteria is geïdentifiseer om te onderskei tussen konstruksies waarin doel, gevolg, oorsaak en rede gerealiseer word. Ons het ‘n paar taaltipologiese parameters van doelkonstruksies vasgestel, bv. die werkswoordsvorm wat in die matriks gebruik word, die manier waarop deelnemers gekodeer word, en die posisie van die doelkonstruksie tov die matriks. Die waarde en geldigheid van hierdie kriteria is daarna in ‘n empiriese ondersoek getoets. In hierdie studie is vasgetel dat ןַעַמְל, רוּבֲעַבּ en ןֶפּ ‘n semantiese potensiaal het wat die konseptualisering van veelvoudige verhoudings aktiveer (bv. ןַעַמְל: doel, gevolg, en die rede), wat beide op verskillende vlakke mag wees asook met verskillende reikwydtes. Ons het ook die prototipiese en minder prototipiese betekenis van die lekseme geïdentifiseer. Hierdie studie illustreer die waarde van die werksmodel wat gebruik, maar het ook aangetoon dat die model enkele leemtes het.

This study examines the figures of theיקדִּ צַ and עשָׁ רָ in psalms. Drawing on both semantics and poetics, this study argues that the contrast between the figures represented by these terms is part of the conventions of Hebrew psalmody and, as such, can serve various discursive functions within an individual psalm. Using insights from the field of lexical semantics, the study clarifies the possible uses of the words Justand עשָׁ רָ, emphasizing a wider range of uses than is typically offered within a broad behavioral domain for these terms. The study summarizes ways that various books in the Hebrew Bible use the contrast of these figures to develop a description of the literary features related to their presentations. The analysis of 18 psalms that include both figures utilizes insights from narratological theories of character to explore the functions of the contrast between קידִּ צַ and עשָׁ רָ as literary figures within the overall discourse of the psalm. Focusing on the setting of an individual psalm and embracing the possibility of variation reveals that קידִּ צַ and עשָׁ רָ are not only, or even usually, employed to describe the “prototypically good” or “prototypically bad” person in psalms. Rather, the עשָׁ רָ is often a designation for an antagonist, and the קידִּ צַ is often understood as one who is innocently wronged. As such, the literary pattern of their contrast does not focus on the moral character of these figures but on the fairness or justice of God to eventually elevate the position of the קידִּ צַ and destroy the עשָׁ רָ.