HEBREW TENSES ILLUSTRATED BY THOSE OF OTHER LANGUAGES.
ARABIC-ANCIENT.
RICHARDSON writes:—"The preterite is used also in place of the future, and other tenses, which an attention to the construction only can render familiar.
"The particle la, 'not,' gives to the preterite the signification of the present, 'the fruit of timidity does not gain [hath not gained], and doth not lose [hath not lost] .... Perceded by az, or aza, 'when,' it becomes the future of the subjunctive, 'when you shall be [have been] among strange people, to whom you do not belong, then eat whatever is set before you, whether it be bad or good.'
"The future corresponds more frequently to our present than to any other tense, as may be remarked in almost every passage.... It is frequently restrained to a future tense when the particle sa is prefixed ... the negative lana, 'not at all,' together with the particles saufa, saf, saw, say, give it likewise the future sense. When preceded by ma, 'not,' it has for the most part a present signification.... lam and lama, 'not yet,' gives it, according to Erpenius, the sense of the preterite."—Grammar, p. 81-89
ARABIC—MODERN.
FARIS EL-SHIDIAC writes:—"The form for the future of the verb is also applicable for the present. The modern Arabs, therefore, make it a real present by joining it to some other word. Thus howa yaktuba, signifies he writes, or he will write. But howa ammal yaktuba, has the single signification of he is writing.
"Although in the classical Arabic there are two particles, sa and saufa, employed to confine the verb to the future, they are very seldom used in ordinary books."—Grammar, p. 38.
SYRIAC—ANCIENT.
HOFFMAN writes:—"Praet. pro Fut. in sermonibus propheticis asseveranonibus, vel in expectatione interdum, sed multo rarius, quam in Hebraicis libris usurpatur (Praet. propheticum), ita ut viva loquentis imaginatione id, quod futurum est, tanquam praeteritum aut certe praesens fingatur; e.g., Es. 9. 1, Ge. 17. 20; 40. 14, Job 19. 27, Jo. 5. 24.
"Praet. pro Imper. ut quamquam non omnino prohibititm, tameu in uno fere verbo hewo vulgare est, idque in sermonibus tum affirmantibus tum negantibus, praecipue ubi cum Adject, aut Partic. conjunctum legitur, ut Mat. 5. 25; 6. 7, Mar. 5. 34; 13. 37, Lu. 10. 37; 11. 2; 13. 14, Rom. 12. 9-14, 16, 1 Cor. 11. 24; 14. 20, Eph. 4. 32, Tit. 3. 1, 1 Jo. 4. 1.
"Praet. pro Fut. exacto poni, non singulare putarim, quia hoc tern pus praeteriti notionen certo includit; ita in his sententiis hypotheticis, De. 4. 30, 1 Sa. 10. 2.
The future is used: "pro pares. neque tamen tam crebro, quam in Hebraico sermone, e.g. 1 Sa. 1. 8, Ephr. 1. 119, f., Ge. 4. 15, Es. 43. 17.
"Fut. Syriaco ea quoque iudicantur, quae Romani praes. conjunct, designant; itaque a) Optativus, ut Ps. 7. 10, Cant. 7. 9, 1 Reg. 17. 21, deinde b) Germanorum formulae loquendi verbo quodam auxiliari (mögen, dürfer,können, sollen), effectae, ut Ps. 7. 10, Es. 19. 12; 47. 13. Esdr. 19. 14, Ge. 2. 16; 3. 2; 30. 31, Ju. 14. 16, Pr. 20. 9, Non minus c) Imper. hoc tempore signatur, quid? quod in praeceptis ad aliquid prohibendum datis, cum Imper. prohibitive usurpari nequeat (§ 132, 1), vulgo eo utimtur, e.g., Ge. 46. 3, Ex. 20. 13-17, Ruth 1. 20."— Grammar, p. 332-336.
UHLEMANN writes:—"The past designates the present tense a) in prophecies, asseverations, and the like, which are viewed as already fulfilled and accomplished.
"The future stands for ... the present, although more rarely than in Hebrew.
"The preterite also stands for the imperative."—Grammar, p. 171-7.
SYRIAC—MODERN.
STODDART writes:—"Present tense. This is sometimes used ... as a future, 'we are going after a month;' so in Ge. 6. 17, where in the modern language we have the present tense, and in the ancient the active participle.
"Preterite tense.—1) Used as a present: e.g., a man in distress says, I died, i.e., I am dead; I choked, i.e., I am choked, or I am drowned.' A boy in recitation, if confused, will say, 'it lost on me,' i.e., I have lost it. Ask a man how his business is to-day, and he may reply, 'It remained [remains] just so.' Persons coming to make a petition will tell us, 'we poured (i.e., we now place) our hope on you.' Compare Ancient Syriac, (Hoff. § 129, 4. b. c.) Compare also Ps. 1. 1, in the Ancient and Modern.
"4) As a, future; e.g., if you died to-morrow, you perished; if you believe, Christ just now (i.e., at this moment) received [will receive] you;' this is no doubt an emphatic future. Compare Nordh. § 966. 1, c.
5) As a subjunctive present . ... Many of the idioms mentioned above give force and vivacity to the language. We are thus allowed to speak of events and actions which are present or future, though definite, or future and contingent, as if they had actually transpired and were recorded in the past. On this account the preterite is often used in Hebrew in the language of prophecy.
"It is not strange that these different idioms lead to ambiguity, which no acquaintance with the language will fully remove; e.g., [a certain given phrase] may be translated, 'our sweet voices let us all raise; or we do all raise, or we will all raise.' The perplexity thus caused, however, is as nothing compared with the puzzling expressions we often find in Hebrew."—Grammar, p. 158–164.
