Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar/50. The Participle

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Wilhelm GeseniusEmil Kautzsch591221Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar — The Participle1909Arthur Ernest Cowley

§50. The Participle.

a 1. Qal has both an active participle, called Pôʿēl from its form (פֹּעֵל), and a passive, Pāʿûl (פָּעוּל).[1]

Pāʿûl is generally regarded as a survival of a passive of Qal, which still exists throughout in Arabic, but has been lost in Hebrew (see, however, § 52 e), just as in Aramaic the passives of Piʿēl and Hiphʿîl are lost, except in the participles. But instances of the form quṭṭāl are better regarded as remnants of the passive participle Qal (see § 52 s), so that פָּעוּל must be considered as an original verbal noun; cf. Barth, Nominalbildung, p. 173 ff.

b 2. In the intransitive verbs mid. e and mid. o, the form of the participle active of Qal coincides in form with the 3rd sing. of the perfect, e.g. יָשֵׁן sleeping, from יָשֵׁן; יָגוֹר (only orthographically different from the perf. יָגֹר) fearing; cf. the formation of the participle in Niphʿal, § 51 a. On the other hand, the participle of verbs mid. a takes the form קֹטֵל (so even from the transitive שָׂנֵא to hate, part. שׂנֵא). The ô of these forms has arisen through an obscuring of the â, and is therefore unchangeable, cf. § 9 q. The form קָטָל (with a changeable Qameṣ in both syllables), which would correspond to the forms יָשֵׂן and יָגֹר, is only in use as a noun, cf. § 84a f. The formation of the participle in Piʿēl, Hiphʿîl, and Hîthpaʿēl follows a different method.

c 3. Participles form their feminine (קֹֽטְלָה or קֹטֶ֫לֶת) and their plural like other nouns (§ 80 e, § 84a r, s, § 94).

d Rem. 1. From the above it follows, that the ā of the form יָשֵׁן is lengthened from ă, and consequently changeable (e.g. fem. יְשֵׁנָה); and that the ô of קֹטֵל on the other hand is obscured from an unchangeable â.[2] In Arabic the verbal adjective of the form qătĭl corresponds to the form qāṭēl, and the part. qâtĭl to qôṭēl. In both cases, therefore, the ē of the second syllable is lengthened from ĭ, and is consequently changeable (e.g. קֹטֵל, plur. קֹֽטְלִים; כָּבֵד, constr. pl. כִּבְדֵי).

e תּוֹמִיךְ ψ 16, instead of the form qôṭēl, is an anomaly; it is possible, however, that תּוֹמֵיךְ (incorrectly written fully) is intended (cf. סֹבֵיב 2 K 8), or even the imperfect Hiphʿîl of יָמַךְ. The form יֹסִף in Is 29, 38 appears to stand for יֹסֵף, but most probably the Masora here (as certainly in יוֹסִיף Ec 1) intends the 3rd sing. imperf. Hiph., for which the better form would be יוֹסֵף; אוֹבִיל 1 Ch 27, being a proper name and a foreign word, need not be considered.—אֹבַד (constr. state of אֹבֵד), with ă in the second syllable, occurs in Dt 32 (cf. moreover, § 65 d). On ה֫וֹלֶם Is 41 (for הוֹלֵם), see § 29 f.

f 2. A form like the pass. ptcp. Pāʿŭl, but not to be confused with it, is sometimes found from intransitive verbs, to denote an inherent quality, e.g. אָמוּן faithful; אָנוּשׁ desperate, Jer 15, &c.; בָּטוּחַ trustful, Is 26, ψ 112; עָצוּם strong; שָׁכוּר drunken, Is 51; and even from transitive verbs, אָחוּז handling, Ct 3; זָכוּר mindful, ψ 103; יָדוּעָ knowing, Is 53; cf. § 84a m.

  1. The constr. st. נְאֻם in the formula נאם יהוה, the word (properly the whispering) of the Lord, &c., is always written defectively.
  2. Cf. Vollers, ‘Das Qâtil-partizipium,’ in ZA. 1903, p. 312 ff.