On the fundamental difference
between râʼâh ki and râʼâh wehinnēh
Koot van Wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)
This blog is an extrapolation from
the article written by Tamer Zewi on these particles in Hebrew. The methodology
is simple, namely to extract the English sample verses from her presentation
and then to investigate and analyze them to see what the real meaning of the
use of these particles is.
Zewi is from Haifa University in
Israel and has published a number of articles on this subject. The current article
appeared in published form as follows: Tamar Zewi (2011). “On כּי
ראָה and
והנּה ראָה
in Biblical Hebrew,” in Ἐν πάσῃ γραμματικῇ καὶ σοφίᾳ En pāsē grammatikē kai
sophiā Saggi di linguistica ebraica in
onore di Alviero Niccacci, ofm.
Editors Gregor Geiger in collaboration with Massimo Pazzini. Terra Santa:
Franciscan Printing Press.
The conclusion of Tamar Zewi was not
satisfying to me saying that:
“In conclusion, the great majority
of examples of כּי
+ ראָה
reflect non-physical observation,
that is, perception or realization of a fact or a situation, while the great
majority of examples of והנּה
+ ראָה
reflect a physical act of viewing of
a material object, whether in reality or in dreams or revelation. These two meanings
indeed constitute the fundamental distinction between כּי
+ ראָה
and והנּה + ראָה.”
My own conclusion was as follows
after analyzing her examples:
“In conclusion, the fundamental
difference between râʼâh ki and râʼâh wehinnēh is that רָאָה râʼâh
is a general seeing or looking without paying attention to minute detail but hinnēh and wehinnēh has the meaning “zoom in with
sensitive perception and be calculative” (Koot van Wyk, 1st August
2018).
Christo van der Merwe of
Stellenbosch University Ancient Cultures Department on Hebrew linguistics
probably came the closest to what I want to say: “Cognitive proximity”. His
article is in Zewi’s bibliography below. “Proximity” is for myself a zoom-in
action of focus and sensitive attention.
Examples of these particles by Tamar
Zewi and my analysis of them. Zewi cited the RSV with minor adjustments.
“And (he) said, ‘Behold*, I have dreamed another dream’” (Gen 37,9).3
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“Then the LORD said to
Samuel, ‘Behold*, I am about to
do a thing in Israel, at which the two ears of every one that hears it will
tingle’” (1Sam 3,11).
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he
lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold*, there
were camels coming” (Gen 24,63).
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“Then Elisha prayed, and said, ‘O LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes that he
may see.’ So the LORD opened the
eyes of the young man, and he saw; and behold*, the
mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (2Kgs 6,17).
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“When the sun had gone down and it
was dark, behold*, a smoking fire pot and a flaming
torch passed
between these pieces” (Gen 15,17).
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“Then Saul said to the people who
were with him, ‘Number and see who has gone from us.’ And when they had numbered, behold*, Jonathan and
his armor-bearer were not there” (1Sam 14,17).
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“And God saw that the light was good.” (Gen 1,4).
Gen
1,10.12.18.21.25;13 3,6; 6,2; 40,16; 49,15; Ps 34,9; Eccl 3,22;
“The LORD saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6,5);
“So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his
father …” (Gen 28,8);15 and similarly
Exod 10,10; 1Sam 12,17.
“And Abimelech said to Abraham, ‘What were you thinking of, that you did this thing?’” (Gen 20,10).
The JPS goes
even further: “‘What, then,’ Abimelech demanded
of Abraham, ‘was your purpose in doing this thing?’”
“Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob” (Gen 28,6);
“And when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious” (1Kgs 11,28).
Other such
examples are Gen 16,4.5; 29,31; 30,1.9; 31,5; 32,26; 38,14; 39,3; 42,1; 44,31;
50,15; Exod 8,11; 9,34; 32,1; 32,25; Judg 6,22; 9,55; 12,3; 16,18; 18,26;
20,36; 20,41; 1Sam 5,7; 9,16; 10,14; 12,12; 13,11; 23,15; 26,3; 28,21; 31,5;
31,7; 2Sam 10,6.9.14.15.19; 17,23; 1Kgs 3,28; 12,16; 16,18; 21,29; 2Kgs 3,26;
6,32; 11,1; Isa 59,16; Jer 3,8; 17,6.8; Ezek 12,3; 19,5; 23,13; Ps 10,14;
119,159; Job 2,13; Eccl 2,24; 4,4; Lam 1,20; Esth 3,5; 7,7; 1Chr 10,5.7; 19,6.10.15.16.19;
21,28; 28,10; 2Chr 12,7; 15,9; 22,10; 32,2.
“And God saw everything that he had
made, and behold*, it was very good. And there was evening and
there was morning, a sixth day” (Gen 1,31).
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“They
said, ‘arise, and let us go up against them; for we
have seen the land, and behold*, it is very fertile’” (Judg 18,9).
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great” (1Sam 12,17);
“But when Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David
…” (1Sam 18,28);
“You may know and see that
there is no wrong or treason in my hands” (1Sam 24,12);
“Then the king of Israel called all
the elders of the land, and said, ‘Mark, now,
and see how this man is seeking trouble; for he
sent to me for my wives and my children, and for my silver and my gold, and I
did
not refuse him’” (1Kgs 20,7).
Similar
examples are 2Kgs 5,7; Jer 2,19.
“And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in awe of him” (1Sam 18,15);
“Then I saw that wisdom excels
folly” (Eccl 2,13).
“And Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw that the Jordan valley was well watered
everywhere” (Gen 13,10);
“He looked this way and that, and
seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand” (Exod 2,12);
“And the LORD said to Moses,
‘Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I
have talked with you from heaven’’” (Exod 20,22).
“And Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw.”
“And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you” (Gen 45,12).
Here Joseph expects his
brothers to ‘see’ his mouth speaking and to ‘realize’
that it is speaking at
the same time.
“When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was
very beautiful” (Gen 12,14);
“And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand” (Gen 39,13);
“When Joseph saw
that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim” (Gen 48,17);
“When the LORD saw that he turned aside
to see, God called to him out of the bush” (Exod 3,4);
“Then David ran and stood over the
Philistine, and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath, and killed him,
and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their
champion was dead, they fled” (1Sam 17,51);
“But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David
perceived that the child was dead” (2Sam 12,19);
“And when the man saw that all the people stopped, he carried Amasa out of
the highway into the field, and threw a garment over him” (2Sam 20,12);
“And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest” (2Kgs 12,11, and similarly its parallel in 2Chr 24,11).
“And Noah removed the covering of the
ark, and looked, and behold*, the face of the ground
was dry” (Gen 8,13);
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“And he looked down toward Sodom and
Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and beheld, and lo*, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace” (Gen 19,28);
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“And Abraham lifted up his eyes and
looked, and behold*, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by
his horns” (Gen 22,13);
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“As soon as they entered Samaria,
Elisha said, ‘O LORD, open the
eyes of these men, that they may see.’ So the LORD opened their
eyes, and they saw; and lo*, they were in the midst of
Samaria” (2Kgs 6,20);
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“I raised my eyes and saw, and behold*, a ram standing on the bank of the river” (Dan 8,3).
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
Other examples
are Gen 18,2; 24,63; 26,8; 29,2; 31,10; 33,1; 37,25; 40,6;
41,22; 42,27;
Exod 2,6; 3,2; 39,43; Lev 13,5.6.8.13.17.20.21.25.26.30.31.32.
34.36.39.43.53.55.56;
14,3.37.39.44.48; Josh 5,13; 7,21; 8,20; Judg 3,24; 9,34;
14,8; 21,21;
1Sam 10,11; 14,16.17; 2Sam 13,34; 18,24; 2Kgs 6,20.30; 11,14;
Jer
4,23.24.25.26; Ezek 1,4.15; 2,9; 8,2.7.10; 10,1.9; 37,8; 44,4; Zech 2,15;
4,2; 5,1.9;
6,1; Dan 8,15; 10,5; 12,5; 2Chr 23,13.
“And God saw the earth, and behold*, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted
their way upon the
earth” (Gen 6,12);
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“And Jacob saw that Laban did not
regard him with favor as before” (Gen 31,2);17
“And the LORD said to Moses,
‘I have seen this people, and behold*, it is a
stiff-necked people’” (Exod 32,9, and similarly Deut
9,13);
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“And I looked, and behold*, you had sinned against the LORD your God; you
had made yourselves a molten calf” (Deut 9,16);
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“But I did not believe the reports
until I came and my own eyes had seen it; and, behold*, the half
was not told me” (1Kgs 10,7, and similarly 2Chr 9,6);18
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“and said to them, ‘I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he
did before’” (Gen 31,5).
“I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold*, all is vanity and a striving after wind” (Eccl 1,14).
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
‘Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.’ But behold*, this also was vanity” (Eccl 2,1);
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“Again I saw all the oppressions
that are practiced under the sun. And behold*, the tears
of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them!”
(Eccl 4,1).
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to
Joseph, ‘I also had a dream: there were three cake
baskets on my head’” (Gen 40,16).
“And when Aaron and all the people of
Israel saw Moses, behold*, the skin of his face shone” (Exod 34,30);
*Zoom in with sensitive
perception and be calculative
“The people of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone” (Exod 34,35)
Tamar Zewi concluded
“In conclusion, the great
majority of examples of כּי + ראָה reflect non-physical observation, that is, perception or
realization of a fact or a situation, while the great majority of examples of והנּה + ראָה reflect a physical act
of viewing of a material object, whether in reality or in dreams or revelation.
These two meanings indeed constitute the fundamental distinction between כּי + ראָה and והנּה + ראָה.”
My conclusion
In conclusion, the
fundamental difference between râʼâh ki and râʼâh wehinnēh is that רָאָה râʼâh is a general seeing or looking without paying
attention to minute detail but hinnēh and wehinnēh has the meaning “zoom
in with sensitive perception and be calculative”
(Koot van Wyk, 1st August 2018). Sometimes the ki is used as a
substitute for hinnēh and wehinnēh and it can be a shortcut
to imply what the hinnēh and wehinnēh would have been, if it
would be there. The phenomenon of month abbreviations was prevalent near Ugarit
and similarly this phenomenon is a modern smartphone feature in messaging by
young people. “A full understanding
needs only have a word.”
Koot van Wyk
Department of Liberal
Education
Sangju campus
Kyungpook National
University
South Korea
Conjoint lecturer of
Avondale College
Australia
Bibliography
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Biblical Translations
JPS = Tanakh. A New
Translation of the Holy Scriptures According to the Traditional
Hebrew Texts, Philadelphia 1985.
RSV = MAY H.G. - METZGER B.M. (ed.), The New Oxford
Annotated Bible
with the Apocrypha:
Revised Standard Version, Oxford 1977.