Missions Methods and Principles
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 57, No. 1 – Fall 2014
Managing Editor: Terry L. Wilder
By Ernst Jenni. Stuttgart: Kohl- hammer, 2012. 344 pages. Hardcover, $60.00.
With this publication, the distinguished Hebraist Ernst Jenni offers a significant contribution to the conversation of Biblical Hebrew. This work is a collection of select writings, many previously published in journals or Festschriften. While there is continuity in the collection, one may choose to read each chapter independently, depending on one’s research interest.
The first three articles pull together some of Jenni’s analyses on time. The first, Adverbiale Zeitbestimmungen im klassischen Hebräisch, argues that the distinction must be made between deitic and non-deitic categories using langue. This argument flows nicely into the second article, Temporale Angaben im Sacharjabuch. Here, Jenni uses Zechariah as a testing ground for the usefulness of a deitic/non-deitic distinction. For example, he makes an argument that one adverbial phrase “in that day” provides structural maker for the book of Zechariah. In the third article on time, Bewertete Zeitbestimmungen, Jenni attempts to demonstrate that the speaker in the Hebrew Bible can and does distinguish perception and reality with certain adverbs. Jenni then shows his skills of categorization by placing many verbs and adjectives with comparisons into his compartments in Untersuchungen zur Komparation im hebräischen Alten Testament. The categories that Jenni uses help the student think carefully about how a verb or adjective functions. This article leads nicely to the next study of adjectives, Adjektive und Eigenschaftsverben im Althebräischen. Here, Jenni brings thoughts from his Piel monograph and lays the ground work for the lengthy essay that concludes the present collection of essays. He argues that predicate adjectives bring new information to the sentence while verbs of quality give already known information.
Next, there are three articles that focus on style and modality. The first article, Sprachliche Übertreibungen im Alten Testament, continues to show Jenni’s skill of cate- gorization; here, he classifies rhetoric and hyperbole (e.g., numerical exaggeration of people as numerous as sand). In the following article, Psalm 30:6a—eine ungewöhnliche Sentenz, he argues that the beth in this sentence brings a modal idea, rather than being a simple copula. There is a relationship between “his anger” and “a moment,” for which the beth provides evidence. The modal function that Jenni espouses, however, is not common in the Old Testament. The last brief article, Erwägungen zur Etymologie der althebräischen Modalpartikel nā’, stays with the theme of modality. Jenni discusses the often interesting and perplexing etymology and meaning of nā’. After arguing that suppositions of Gesenius and Gottlieb are unconvincing because of hypothetical nature, Jenni points to the modal context and function of the particle as the most demonstrable aspect of nā’.
The primary contribution of the present work is the final essay, Nif ’al und Hitpa’el im Biblisch-Hebräischen, which has not been published elsewhere. Here, Jenni brings together his methodological rigor and prior studies on adjectives (e.g., chapter 5 of present work) and verbs (e.g., Das hebräische Piel monograph and Zur Funktion der refexiv-passiven Stammform in Studien II). He argues by analogy of adjectives that the niphal expresses information that is expected (i.e., not new), but the hithpael expresses information that the addressee does not know (i.e., new information). He makes his argument of expected vs. new information on text-pragmatic grounds. Jenni brings his distinctions between hiphil (i.e., causative) and piel (i.e., factitive) to bear on niphal and hithpael, respectively.
Jenni contends that niphal and hithpael do not function reflexively. This argument of non-reflexive niphal and hithpael goes against the (at least former) scholarly consensus of both stems having predominant reflexive meaning. Part of the problem for understanding the verbal stems according to Jenni, however, is the target language (e.g., German). To be sure, there is co-reference in both stems. He describes this co-reference, however, as middle—not reflexive—because the object is undifferentiated. In fact, Jenni finds Hebrew displaying a middle feature by prefixes for both stems.
What is more, Jenni eschews the standard discussion of passive meaning in these stems in order to show how context activates one of the many semantic possibilities of a stem. For example, the niphal could express an achievement or a tolerative meaning; context, however, must determine the meaning—not the stem itself. It is helpful to note here that Jenni picks up from his updated study on piel (see Studien II) with Vendler’s Aktionsarten categories to analyze niphal and hithpael stems.
The final and most important study stretches almost one hundred and seventy pages. Here, Jenni adds clarity to two stems: niphal and hithpael. He does so by interacting with recent dissertations, monographs, and his own work. In classic Jenni fashion, he argues for a clear understanding on Hebrew verbs (e.g., given vs. new information in Gen 3:8 and Gen 3:10, respectively), even if the target language cannot demonstrate certain nuances well. Jenni’s clear organization, argumentation, and examples (especially the semantic chart of verbs, 287-95) make his work easy to read and reference.
Jenni provides students of the Hebrew Bible a resource filled with his mature and sharp insights. Certainly one would not agree with every point Jenni makes, but the sophistication of linguistics, Hebrew syntax, and nearly exhaustive analyses make this book a contribution to the field that will cause scholars to think more clearly about various syntactical, temporal, and etymological issues. One, however, may criticize his methods of analysis in Nif ’al und Hitpa’el. For example, readers may question Jenni’s use of Vendler’s Aktionsarten, the absence of Sirach and Qumran within the data studied, the absence of verbs occurring less than twenty times, and the claim that the prefixes of the stems function as middle markers. These criticisms do not minimize the work, however. Students of Biblical Hebrew should consult Jenni’s essays; scholars should carefully consider the Nif ’al und Hitpa’el essay because this study challenges the typical way introductory and reference grammars discuss the verbal stems. This entire collection of Jenni’s work further emphasizes that it is truly an exciting time for the study of Biblical Hebrew.
