Journal of Semitic Studies LXVI/1 Spring 2021 doi: 10.1093/jss/fgaa053 © The author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the University of Manchester. All rights reserved. 1 SITUATION ASPECT, (UN)BOUNDEDNESS AND THE PARTICIPIAL PERIPHRASTIC CONSTRUCTION IN BIBLICAL HEBREW DANIEL E. CARVER and EDWARD M. COOK LANCASTER BIBLE COLLEGE THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA Abstract This paper provides a comprehensive and uniform description that accounts for the use of all the participial periphrastic constructions in Biblical Hebrew and calls into question the claim that a second (‘pret- erite’) function of the construction was developed in Late Biblical Hebrew. We define the syntagm and give criteria for distinguishing true participial periphrastic constructions from superficially similar constructions. We then show that close attention to situation aspect and (un)boundedess provides a unified and sound account of every occurrence of the syntagm in the Hebrew Bible. We conclude that, unless the situation is bounded by an adverbial phrase, every parti- cipial periphrastic construction is unbounded which semantically dis- tinguishes the construction from wayyiqtol. Introduction The participial periphrastic construction is a marginal construction that occurs relatively infrequently and does not have a unique role in the verbal system of Biblical Hebrew. 1 Yet it is important, not only in its own right but also because it is frequently drawn into the debate over diachrony in Biblical Hebrew. The participial periphrastic con- struction is a syntagm consisting of √ היהand a participial predicate used verbally. The semantics of the construction appear to be fairly transparent. Apart from a few cases in which √ היהis an infinitive 2 or 1 E.g. Cook 2012: 270 does not include it. 2 Gen. 34:25; 1 Kgs 8:29, 52; Isa. 60:15(×2); Jer. 39:15; Ezek. 41:6; Zech. 7:7; Esth. 9:21, 27; 2 Chron. 6:20. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jss/article/66/1/1/6145781 by guest on 23 February 2021