| This thesis is concerned with the understanding of the finite verb in the poetry section of the Book of Job. More specifically, it analyzes the yiqtol, the wayyiqtol, and the qatal. The analysis uses insights from discourse analysis. It pays attention to the larger (con)text where the verbs are found, the type of clause where the verb is found, and the word order in the clause. It concludes that there are two forms of the yiqtol still discernible in the book, a short and a long form. The short form, which can still be detected in certain forms, is perfective and can also express deontic modality (usually as clause initial). The long form is imperfective and when it is classified as modal, is usually employed for epistemic modality. The wayyiqtol is a perfective subcategory of the short yiqtol, while the weqatal represents a subcategory of the qatal functioning modally. The qatal is the other major verbal category in Hebrew which is perfective, and which can be and is used modally in certain contexts (e.g. conditional and interrogational clauses). When there is functional overlap between two distinct forms (e.g. qatal and short yiqtol ), they can appear in parallel in the same verse, most likely for stylistic reasons. The time relationships of all the verbal forms are deduced by paying attention to the larger context, more specifically, to the logic of the situation. |
