“And Now”: Transitions in Northwest Semitic Epigraphy and Narrative
The Canaanite phrase wꜤt ‘and now’ appears frequently both in epigraphic material from the first millennium B.C.E. and in direct speech within Biblical Hebrew narrative. As a macrosyntactic marker signaling a transition, wꜤt most commonly introduces a command, request, or other volitive expression that is logically connected with the preceding context. In Hebrew, Edomite, and Ammonite letters, wꜤt also marks the transition from the opening address to the main subject of the message. The supposed Aramaic cognates (w)kꜤn/kꜤnt/kꜤt exhibit similar behavior, though the broader epistolary witness in this language provides us with the opportunity to examine the function of these terms in more diverse contexts. This paper surveys wꜤt and its cognates across Northwest Semitic epigraphic material and the speech patterns reflected in Hebrew narrative, demonstrating how its use in each of these contexts elucidates its function and interpretation in the other.
