This book addresses the problem of temporal interpretation within narrative of the biblical Hebrew verb, thus exploring the broader issue of the expression of time in language and the ways in which we can attempt to understand and represent it.

Goldfajn offers a summary of this controversy, which has been argued over since at least the tenth century, presenting previous scholarly opinions and theories. She argues that one possible way of understanding the fundamental meanings of the Hebrew verbs is by examining the role played in ordering time by the four main verb forms used in biblical Hebrew narrative. Accordingly, emphasis is given to the intersentential use of these forms and the variety of interesting ways in which they establish the order of events.

"Every once in a (long) while, one runs across a well-written book in which the prose itself is elegant, literary in its own right. This is not such a book. It is even better: it is clearly and simply written, without the usual obtuse and idiosyncratic jargon that linguists customarily use. To be sure, jargon there is, but always well-defined and consistently used. This is the reader's good fortune..."

Hebrew Studies

"This small tome is an excellent summary and conclusion to the tense/aspect debate of the Hebrew verbal system...This one book alone is all that is needed to bring students up to speed on the question, including past discussion."

Tal Goldfajn, Professor of Biblical Hebrew, University of Sao Paulo