# Aramaic: passive participle with t and without t



## S1234

Hi everyone

Ezra 6.8 is:

וּמִנִּי֮ שִׂ֣ים טְעֵם֒ לְמָ֣א דִֽי־תַֽעַבְד֗וּן עִם־שָׂבֵ֤י יְהוּדָיֵא֙ אִלֵּ֔ךְ לְמִבְנֵ֖א בֵּית־אֱלָהָ֣א דֵ֑ךְ וּמִנִּכְסֵ֣י מַלְכָּ֗א דִּ֚י מִדַּת֙ עֲבַ֣ר נַהֲרָ֔ה אָסְפַּ֗רְנָא נִפְקְתָ֛א תֶּהֱוֵ֧א מִֽתְיַהֲבָ֛א לְגֻבְרַיָּ֥א אִלֵּ֖ךְ דִּי־לָ֥א לְבַטָּלָֽא

Why is the participle from hitpeel (מתיהב) used instead of the passive participle from peal (יהיב)? In general, is there a difference in meaning between a passive participle and the corresponding participle that has the prefix "t"? Like קטיל and מתקטל?

Thanks


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## Ali Smith

Yes, there is. The difference between a participle from an Ht-binyan and a passive participle form the corresponding active binyan is that the former expresses the process while the latter expresses the end result, i.e. a state.

קטיל 'killed'
מתקטל 'being killed'


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## 𒍝𒊑𒈾 𒂵𒉿𒀉

Then how do you explain the passive participle from the G stem (which of course does NOT have the t) in the following verse

וּכְנֵ֥מָא פִתְגָמָ֖א הֲתִיב֣וּנָא לְמֵמַ֑ר אֲנַ֣חְנָא הִמֹּ֡ו עַבְדֹוהִי֩ דִֽי־אֱלָ֨הּ שְׁמַיָּ֜א וְאַרְעָ֗א וּבָנַ֤יִן בַּיְתָא֙ דִּֽי־הֲוָ֨א בְנֵ֜ה מִקַּדְמַ֤ת דְּנָה֙ שְׁנִ֣ין שַׂגִּיאָ֔ן וּמֶ֤לֶךְ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל֙ רַ֔ב בְּנָ֖הִי וְשַׁכְלְלֵֽהּ׃

Ezra 5:11

This is the reply they gave us: We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth and are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.

"was built" is not an end result or state. It means that at time X the construction of the temple was completed. Just like if you said "We built the temple at time X." or "I broke the window at 5:00 pm." or "The window was broken at 5:00 pm."


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## Ali Smith

וּכְנֵ֥מָא פִתְגָמָ֖א הֲתִיב֣וּנָא לְמֵמַ֑ר אֲנַ֣חְנָא הִמֹּ֡ו עַבְדֹוהִי֩ דִֽי־אֱלָ֨הּ שְׁמַיָּ֜א וְאַרְעָ֗א וּבָנַ֤יִן בַּיְתָא֙ דִּֽי־הֲוָ֨א בְנֵ֜ה מִקַּדְמַ֤ת דְּנָה֙ שְׁנִ֣ין שַׂגִּיאָ֔ן וּמֶ֤לֶךְ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל֙ רַ֔ב בְּנָ֖הִי וְשַׁכְלְלֵֽהּ׃
(Ezra 5:11)

And thus they answered us (lit. 'returned us the answer'), saying, "We are the slaves/servants of the God of the heavens and of the earth and are building the temple which was built many years before this and which a great king of Israel built and completed.

בְנֵה verbal adj. (pass. part.) m.s. abs. G בנה 'to build'.

The passive participle of a non-ht binyan indicates a result rather than an ongoing event. In other words, it indicates a +POINT situation (= a state), not a -POINT situation (= an event) (see Semantic Classes of Hebrew Verbs: A Study of Aktionsart in the Hebrew Verbal System by Stuart Alan Creason, pg. 71). This is not evident in the English translation of דִּֽי־הֲוָ֨א בְנֵ֜ה מִקַּדְמַ֤ת דְּנָה֙ שְׁנִ֣ין שַׂגִּיאָ֔ן, namely "which was built many years before this". This translation seems to indicate an event, even though that was not the author's intention.


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## zaw

עָנֵ֤ה דָֽנִיֵּאל֙ וְאָמַ֔ר לֶהֱוֵ֨א שְׁמֵ֤הּ דִּֽי־אֱלָהָא֙ מְבָרַ֔ךְ מִן־עָלְמָ֖א וְעַ֣ד־עָלְמָ֑א דִּ֧י חָכְמְתָ֛א וּגְבוּרְתָ֖א דִּ֥י לֵֽהּ־הִֽיא׃

which is in Daniel 2-20 has מְבָרַ֔ךְ which is a passive participle. But here it does not mean a result, it means an on going action. Look at the translation:

Daniel said, "Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him.


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## Ali Smith

zaw said:


> עָנֵ֤ה דָֽנִיֵּאל֙ וְאָמַ֔ר לֶהֱוֵ֨א שְׁמֵ֤הּ דִּֽי־אֱלָהָא֙ מְבָרַ֔ךְ מִן־עָלְמָ֖א וְעַ֣ד־עָלְמָ֑א דִּ֧י חָכְמְתָ֛א וּגְבוּרְתָ֖א דִּ֥י לֵֽהּ־הִֽיא׃
> 
> which is in Daniel 2-20 has מְבָרַ֔ךְ which is a passive participle. But here it does not mean a result, it means an on going action. Look at the translation:
> 
> Daniel said, "Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him.


עָנֵ֤ה דָֽנִיֵּאל֙ וְאָמַ֔ר לֶהֱוֵ֨א שְׁמֵ֤הּ דִּֽי־אֱלָהָא֙ מְבָרַ֔ךְ מִן־עָלְמָ֖א וְעַ֣ד־עָלְמָ֑א דִּ֧י חָכְמְתָ֛א וּגְבוּרְתָ֖א דִּ֥י לֵֽהּ־הִֽיא׃

(Dan 2:20)

Responding, Daniel said, "May God's name be blessed from eternity and until eternity, because the wisdom and the might are His (lit. 'are that which is to Him'). 

No, it most certainly does signify a state rather than an event. More specifically, it signifies the state that results from being blessed. Any native speaker of English would pronounce _blessed_ in two syllables in the translation above but in one syllable in the sentence before this one.


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## Glasguensis

Blessed as a state is fairly rare in English. I would not have parsed either of your translations like that, although it is clear in the KJV. In any case I don’t think there’s a great deal of difference in meaning between an action in the passive voice and a state.
John is admired. Fred is blessed.


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## Abaye

> Blessed as a state is fairly rare in English.


In other languages blessed as a state does exit. E.g.
Brân the Blessed - Wikipedia
Makarios III - Wikipedia


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## Glasguensis

Oh it definitely exists in English, I was just challenging the assertion « Any native speaker of English would pronounce _blessed_ in two syllables in the translation above ». It’s sufficiently rare that it really has to be extremely evident from the context that it’s a state, and in the quoted text it is not, in my opinion, sufficiently obvious.


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