Page:Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar (1910 Kautzsch-Cowley edition).djvu/347

 Rem. In a negative final clause with  is dependent on an imperative, forbear from (meddling with) God... that he destroy thee not. As a rule, however, negative final clauses are attached to the principal sentence by means of and a following imperfect; so after an imperative,, , ; after a jussive, , ; after a perfect consec., , 43, 30:12, ; after  with an imperfect, , ,  neither shall he multiply wives unto himself  that his heart turn not away; , , ; after  with jussive, , , , , , ,  f.; after the asseverative  with the impft., ; even after a simple imperfect,  with nails... they fasten it  that it move not; after a participle,.

(b) Frequently in conditional sentences (as in Arabic), either in the protasis or in the apodosis, cf. ... then...; 104:20 ; so also in the protasis,, , , , ; in the apodosis,  then will it (not, then shall it) become a serpent;  after an imperat. in the protasis;, ,. In a negative apodosis, (, but see above, d). In  (if the Lord do not help thee, &c.) is to be explained as a jussive in a negative protasis.

Rem. Undoubtedly this use of the jussive (in conditional sentences) is based on its original voluntative meaning; let something be so and so, then this or that must happen as a consequence. Certain other examples of the, however, show that in the consciousness of the language the voluntative has in such cases become weakened almost to a potential mood, and hence the serves to express facts which may happen contingently, or may be expected, e.g.  (, but cf. above, d);  there is no daysman betwixt us, that might lay (, hence plainly a subjunctive=qui ponat; also in   is probably intended as a jussive); ; so after interrogative sentences,  who is the wise man, ?;.

Moreover, in not a few cases, the jussive is used, without any collateral sense, for the ordinary imperfect form, and this occurs not alone in forms, which may arise from a misunderstanding of the defective writing, as, 36, 32:8, , , , , , ,  , 25:9, 47:4, 90:3, 91:4, 107:29, , , , , , , , , ,  (verse 7 , but immediately afterwards ), , —but also in shortened forms, such as   (Sam; ), , , , , , , , , ,  f. (after other jussives), 104:31, , , 26, 28, 27:8, 33:21, 34:37,. This use of the jussive can hardly be due merely to poetic licence, but is rather to be explained on rhythmical grounds. In all the above-cited examples, in fact, the jussive stands at the beginning of the sentence (and hence removed as far as possible from the principal tone), in others it is immediately before the principal pause, or actually in pause (, , 11, ), and is then a simply rhythmical shortening due to the strong influence of the tone. Moreover, since the jussive in numerous cases is not distinguished in form from the imperfect, it is frequently doubtful which of the two the writer intended. This especially applies to those cases, in which a subjunctive is to be expressed by one or other of the forms (cf. and m–x).