A syntactical study of the WAW- Consecutive and how it affects Biblical Hebrew Discourse:An Application to the Book of Ruth with special attention to the concept of use../

Abstract

The purpose of this study was threefold: (i) a question of general interest, i.e., to help understand important issues surrounding the study of the waw-consecutive phenomenon and the dichotomy mainline-exposition, in which the waw-consecutive is reflected; (ii) to do a discourse analysis of Ruth and to help understand how the structure of Ruth in the light of the dichotomy mainline-exposition gives evidence for the thematic use ofi91J; and (iii) to draw a message in terms ofi91J from the study carried out in the paper and examine how this message is translatable into the life of the African Church today. The approach adopted for the paper was chiefly syntactic, with a relative use of semantic and pragmatic elements to substantiate the study, whenever this was helpful. The method used consisted of an interaction of the writer with written materials, notably books and articles from journals. Alongside the syntax of Ruth, the necessary exegesis was carried out, with special focus on the concept of io.IJ as implied in the context of Ruth. The present work was basically a literary research. The necessary data was thus collected in libraries. The only libraries that I was able to access were those in Nairobi. The study has revealed that writers are not always agreed on the terming and the usage of waw-consecutive. Nevertheless, it is clear the waw-consecutive phenomenon is important for Biblical Hebrew scholarship, inasmuch as it initiates wayyiqtol verbal forms and as such, makes it possible to establish the dichotomy "mainline-exposition." This dichotomy has helped us to unfold the plot development in Ruth and to better capture a fourfold message in this narrative. The message is as follows: the narrative helps understand (i) how Ruth's faithfulness could not be quenched by the tragic events she and her mother-in-law had to face in Moab, (ii) how God works i9IJ through human agents, (iii) how the concept of i9IJ in Ruth illustrates selfless compassion for the poor in general and widows in particular, and (iv) how the same iQIJ extended to Ruth the Moabitess by members of the Israelite family is a symbol and a foreshadow of the inclusion of the Gentiles into the family of God. The application of the study is twofold. Firstly, the study shows that a correct understanding of the waw-consecutive phenomenon is important for an accurate analysis of an OT past-time narrative, especially with respect to the usage of the dichotomy "mainline-exposition" in unfolding the narrative plot and a key theme/concept in the analysed narrative. Secondly, the concept of i9IJ needs to be at home in the African Church today, as it was in the case of Ruth. This is especially true in matters pertaining to faithfulness of people to each other, which in turn will display God's faithfulness to and through fellowman, together with compassion toward the poor and the powerless, as well as a Christian testimony to those in and out of the Church.