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THE FUNCTION OF THE TAUTOLOGICAL INFINITIVE IN CLASSICAL BIBLICAL HEBREW. By Yoo-ki Kim. HSS 60. Pp. xv + 151. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2009. Cloth, $34.95.
Over forty years ago, Takamitsu Muraoka mused doubtfully "whether there is still left any stone unturned" in research upon the Biblical Hebrew infinitive absolute ("Emphasis in Biblical Hebrew" [Ph.D. diss., Hebrew University, 1969], p. 63). Nevertheless, a spate of works produced by other researchers in the past decade militates against such a judgment. Distinguished among them is the volume by Yoo-ki Kim, an update and revision of his doctoral dissertation.
Kim's first chapter introduces the two Biblical Hebrew infinitives, distinguishing between the infinitive construct and the infinitive absolute. The infinitive absolute frequently pairs with a finite verb possessing the same verbal root in a "tautological infinitive" construction. This naming convention underscores the fact that the infinitive absolute morphology neither carries tense, aspect, or modality information, nor does it inflect for person, gender, or number. Only the bare verbal idea resides in the infinitive absolute, which never accepts affixes. Both ancient and modern translations manifest inconsistent interpretations of the tautological infinitive construction, signaling uncertainty among translators concerning its function.
The second chapter constitutes the center of Kim's research, a synchronic analysis of Classical Biblical Hebrew texts. Insights from the generative paradigm of modern linguistics supply a fresh perspective for analyzing the syntax of texts employing the tautological infinitive. However, the elucidation of syntax alone sheds only a limited degree of light upon the communicative function that the tautological infinitive serves for the writers of the Hebrew Bible....