5.2.30 - Hitafel

An Aramaic verb stem, “In Biblical Aramaic, ‘stem’ refers to the relationship of the verb’s subject to the action of the verb. That is, stems convey grammatical ‘voice’ relationships. The Hitafel is the reflexive counterpart to the Afel stem, which is considered a parallel to the causative Hafel stem. Like the Afel, then, there is a causative nuance to the Hitafel (i.e., the object of the verb is made to participate in the action of the verb). As a reflexive, though, the subject of the Hitafel verb acts upon or with respect to itself.”¹ See Afel, Hafel, Hitpaal, Hitpeel, and Peal.

Notes

¹ Michael S. Heiser, Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2005), s.v. “hitafel.”