The Energic in Northwest Semitic

Author(s): Anson F. Rainey

Source: Orientalia , 2008, NOVA SERIES, Vol. 77, No. 1 (2008), pp. 79-83
Published by: GBPress- Gregorian Biblical Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43077080

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 79

The Energie in Northwest Semitic

Anson F. Rainey

Just recently Tropper and Vita (2005) have attempted to show that the energie
suffix can be applied to the jussive (yaqtul) in the hybrid language of the Amarna
letters written by scribes in the Egyptian province of Canaan. Since their arguments
are based mainly on forms in the text of KL 72.600 from Kâmed el-Lôz, that letter
will be presented here to save the reader the trouble of looking for it in previous
publications:

KL 72.600

1 . sap-ra-ti7-mi
2. 2 -šu 3-šu eli( ugu) ú-nu-te
3. xBi-ri-di-ya
4. a-na ka-ta5 ù
5. ti7-iq-ta-bi
6. a-nu-ma i-na qãti(s u)
7. LVsú-ha-ri-ia
8. ut-ta-aš-še-ru-un-na-šu-nu
9. ù ú-ul tu-wa-aš-ša-ru-na
10. ú-nu-tuMEŠ-šu
Rev. 11. qí-bi ù lu-ú
12. tu-wa-aš-ša-ru-na
13. ú-nu-tuMEŠ-šu
14.-18

19

20. qí-bi ù lu-ú

2 1 . tu-ud-da-nu-*na 1
22. a-na mi-ni-, rta1-Tku1-[šu]-nu
23. ú-nu-tuMEŠ-nu
24. ša-ni-tam lYat(t)in(siJM')-ad-du-mi
25. ki-ma erišti(s u.kam.ma) ni-te-[rP-/iš
26. iš-tu ka-ta5

I have written to you two, ye three times, concerning the personal possessions
of Birdiya and each time you said, "Now I really am sending them by the
hand of my servant." But his personal possessions are not being sent! Com-
mand that his personal possessions be sent .... So command that they be
given. Why should our possessions be del[a]yed? Furthermore, it is Yat(t)in-
Haddu that we have been requesting as a favor from you (Rainey 1976:337-
338; Moran 2003:289-290 for line 25).

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80 Anson F. Rainey

I had originally had a problem with the tw

tuwaššarůna "command that they be sent" in
"command that they be given" in lines 20-21.
me like imperfects although they were cond
Now Tropper and Vita have contributed a solu
out that the forms in question can very well
suffix (Tropper and Vita 2005:58-59), i.e. tuw
they are mistaken to assume that they have t
take the energie suffix. They have overlooked
jussive yaqtul and the volitive yaqtula are ide
question are simply yaqtula volitive plurals p
tula forms could take the energie suffix has
263-264; Moran 2003:53, 94). Moran had note
sive never takes the energie (Moran 2003:5
Tropper and Vita express disapproval of my
modal conjugation patterns and my arbitrary
yaqtula forms. Unfortunately, they will just
terms is thoroughly legitimate and I have no
Tropper and Vita also think that they have
with the energie. This in spite of the fact th
energie suffix. In the present case, line 9, is
have ignored the context. The writer of the le
he written to the recipient concerning the po
ient's reply, he employs the verb form ti7-iq-
either a preterit Gtn, tiqtabbi , or more likel
stem iptaras past tense of Middle Babylonian
texts. The most likely definition is preterit G
commensurate with practices in Akkadian and
is saying, "You have said (each time) ....". The
ient's failure to fulfill his promises by the u
The imperfect often expresses continued o
matter of three instances in the past. The pre
the past. So Tropper and Vita are not justified
preterit with energie suffix!
It is instructive to compare the use of the
This vestigial remain of the energie is the nu
suffixes on verbal forms (Lambert 1903). An
never take the energie nun . By way of
32:10) is preterit, denoting a single instance
prefix verbs in the following passage (Psa

But You have made him a little lower than God, CMfò ìrnonrn
And You have crowned him with glory and majesty! īrncprn "iļilļ TODļ

You have made him to rule over the works of Your hands; "ļ^T "TOD? in'Ttpoņ
You have put all things under his feet. v'paTTinri rrncp *73

The LXX understood that all the prefix verbs here were past tense and they
translated all of them by aorists. The New American Standard Version did not

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 The Energie in Northwest Semitic 81

understand it, nor did A. Niccacci (2006:254). The latter' s failure to comp
the presence or absence of the vestigial energie nun as markers of tense
dered practically useless his essay on the verbal system of the Psalms (Ni
2006).
The use of the vestigial energie nun with accusative suffixes in indicative
contexts always denotes the imperfect.

Present-Future

3rd m.s.
The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, ììfpno ETĶTH"!
But a broken spirit, who can bear it? (Prov. 18:14) njxfcT 'Q nip] ITHļ

Who has placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, *7in "HQ fcr")#Ķ
an eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it (Jer. 5:22). inanir ū*?Ī2"pn

2nd m.s.
What is man that You take thought of him, ^"pîrro {013KTÎQ
and the son of man that You care for him? (Psalms 8:5) Ü"TX~]i
1st c.s.

Shall I approach Him with burnt offerings, nfrilO ì301p_Nn

With yearling calves? (Mie. 6:6) ¡7$ 'B

Past-Frequentive
3rd m.s.

If it was a habitually goring ox nvbti ^hnQ wn m] "Htö DŅļ

and its owner had been warned, yet he does not confine it inQET VÍ7'
(Exod. 21:29).

When we turn to the injunctive, we find that, apart from two third person
forms in Isaiah 5:19, the yaqtula volitive has survived only in the 1st person sin-
gular and plural (Moran 2003:84-98). The volitive suffix -a is the marker of the
Hebrew cohortative, the first person expression of will or intention. By the same
token, the 3rd person accusative suffixes also preserve the energie nun. At first I
was hesitant to define it as the injunctive energie but J. Huehnergard was bold
enough to assert the connection (Huehnergard 1988:23). Examples of cohortatives
with accusative suffixes are ubiquitous and need little documentation. For example:

Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law "ļnļin nļļfNļ

and I will keep it whole heartedly (Psalms 119:34). njHOOŅfl

There are also 1st person jussives with accusative 3rd person suffixes; in such cases,
the vestigial energie nun does not appear. Note the following example in which a
1st person jussive is followed by a 1st person Cohortative:

This is my God, and I will praise Him; irn»*) nt

My father's God, and I will extol Him (Exod. 15:2). inļDD

Orientalia - 6

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 82 Anson F. Rainey

The volitive suffix -a can also be employed w

by the following examples:

Arise, O YHWH, confront him, V32 HQip m/P HQ ip

bring him low (Psalms 17:13). injr"pn

Arise, O God, WîfT* noip

plead Your own cause (Psalms 74:22). "1TÏ ron
Arise, O God, judge the earth! (Psalms 82:8) HW

Therefore, the vestigial energie nun can also be employed with the imperative:

Take him and keep him under watch (Jer. 39:12). ^np

In ancient Hebrew the vestigial energie nun is never used with the y
preterit or with the yaqtul jussive. In Arabic, the yaqtul jussive shares m
tactic functions with the yaqtula "subjunctive" and the yaqtulan(na ) energ
yaqtul jussive never takes the energie suffix. Likewise, in the hybrid la
cuneiform texts from Canaan in the mid fourteenth century bce the yaqt
and the yaqtul jussive do not take the energie suffix. Therefore, the alter
adigm proposed by Tropper and Vita can be dismissed since it is not sup
the evidence.

References

Huehnergard, J.
1988 The Early Hebrew Prefix-Conjugations. Hebrew Studies 29:19-23.
Lambert, M.
1903 De l'emploi des suffixes pronominaux avec Noun et sans Noun au futur
et a l'impératif. Revue des études sémitiques 46:178-183.
Moran, W. L.
2003 Amarna Studies . Collected Writings. Huehnergard, J. and Izre'el, Sh.
(eds.). Harvard Semitic Museum Publications; Harvard Semitic Studies,
54. Winona Lake, IN.
Niccacci, A.
2006 The Hebrew Verbal System in Poetry. Pp. 247-268 in Fassberg, S. E. and
Hurvitz, A. (eds.). Biblical Hebrew in its Northwest Semitic Setting. Ty-
pological and Historical Perspectives. The Hebrew University of Jeru-
salem, Publication of the Institute for Advanced Studies, 1. Jerusalem:
The Hebrew University Magnes Press and Winona Lake, IN.
Rainey, A. F.
1976 KL 72:600 and the D-Passive in West Semitic. Ugarit-Forschungen
8:337-341.
1996 Canaanite in the Amarna Tablets. Vol. I. Orthography, Phonology,
Morphosyntactic Analysis of the Pronouns, Nouns, Numerals. Vol. II.
Morphosyntactic Study of the Verbal System. Vol. III. Morphosyntactic

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 The Energie in Northwest Semitic 83

Study of the Particles and Adverbs. Vol. IV References and Ind

Texts Cited. Handbuch der Orientalistik; The Near and Middle East,
vol. 25. Leiden.

Tropper, T. and Vita, J.-P.

2005 Der Energikus an Jussiven im Kanaano-Akkadischen der Amarna-Pe-
riode. Orientalia 74:57-64.

Biriya 7
Sha'arei Tikva 44810
Israel

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