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44* Wout van Bekkum
verb system usually comprises a stringing together of parallel structures,
where the waw consecutive, as the connective element between the clauses,
indicates whether an action is complete or incomplete, perfect or imperfect.
Samuel loves the waw and elevates the art of parataxis in his poetry to
conjunctions of all parts of speech, without a regular consecutio temporum,
but with a clear tense system of past, present, and future. Samuel’s dealings
with subordinate conjunctions can lead to artful contrasts and a new order
of synonymity. For example, two lines from a zulat (Lekh Lekha) regarding
Esau and Jacob read: ְו ֵקי ַר ְבִּתי ָח ָלק/ ִה ְר ַח ְקִּתי ָׂש ִעיר ְוָׂש ֵנא ִתי ְל ַב ֲהל ֹו ְּבי ֹום ָחר ֹון
( ְו ִחיַּב ְבִּתיו ְּב ָת ְמכ ֹו ְּב ִכְׁשר ֹוןhirchaqti Sa‘ir we-sane’ti le-vahalo be-yom charon,
we-qiravti Chalaq we-chibbavtiw be-tomkho be-khishron), “I pushed aside
Esau whom I hated, to strike him on the day of anger, but I drew Jacob near
whom I loved, in supporting him with virtue.” Such word-by-word parallel
lines prove that constructive infinitives come to aid in subordination, which
is explicitly the case in the third subsequent line from the same strophe in
this zulat: ( ּו ְב ִהְׁשַּת ְעּ ֵבד ָּב ָניו ְּבצ ֹו ַען ּו ְב ַנ ֲא ָקם ּו ְב ָק ְרָאם ְּב ָגר ֹוןu-ve-hishta‘bed banaw
be-Tso‘an u-ve-na’aqam u-ve-qor’am be-garon). This has three constructive
infinitives in a row: “In the enslavement of his sons (the people of Israel),
and in their groaning (alluding to the biblical noun na’aqatam), and in crying
aloud.” The strophe concludes with a reference to Josh 24:5: ָו ֶאְׁש ַלח ֶאת ֹמֶׁשה
( ְו ֶאת ַא ֲה ֹרןWa-eshlach et Mosheh we-et Aharon) and is definitely consecutive:
“That is why I have sent Moses and Aaron.” In another instance (Wayyera),
the waw game can function both ways: ָאב ְּב ֵנס ְׁש ִמי ִני ְּכנּוָּסה ְוָׁש ַמע ִל ְמח ֹו ְלל ֹו
( ַוַּי ְקׁ ֵשבAv be-nes shemini ke-nussah we-shama‘ li-mecholelo wayyaqshev),
“When Abraham was put to the test for the eighth time (for circumcision), he
hearkened his God and listened.” The verbal form wayyaqshev appears just
once, in the context of Mal 3:16, wayyaqshev Hashem wayyishma‘, so that in
this verse line a double entendre cannot be entirely excluded—is it Abraham
who listened or God who paid attention?
These and similar phrases are drawn from familiar canonical sources,
and to the listener or reader it could have been immediately apparent that
such passages are lyrical assemblages of composed units. A line from the
