Hebrew conditional?

[JennyG]

I read in the newspaper that the Hebrew language has no conditional mood, which supposedly, in that writer's view, could help explain the absolute certainties of Judaism.
Discounting the last bit, ...is it true?
How does a language manage without being able to refer to anything hypothetical?

 

[Wayne]

Journalists! Harumph!

See Waltke & O'Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 31.4 (p. 506ff.)

In the Germanic languages (including English) the nature of the irreality is often expressed by adding modals such as 'can, should, must, may' etc., to the infinitive of the verb in question. In Hebrew, while a construction involving a finite verb with an infinitive may be used, more often the simple prefix conjugation suffices, allowing other indications in the context to decide its precise value.

As one example, they cite Joshua 1:3, "...every place where you may set your foot..."

See also section 38.2 on conditional clauses in Waltke & O'Connor, pp. 636ff.

There are two classes of conditionals, depending on whether the condition is real (whether fulfilled in the past or still capable of being fulfilled) or irreal (whether contrary to the facts of a previous situation or incapable of fulfillment).

They continue with extended discussion of the protasis [the "if" clause]:
1. The protasis of a real conditional
2. The protasis as a casus pendens
3. The protasis of an irreal conditional

 

[JennyG]

Thank you
Perhaps I should have smelt a rat (or an axe being ground) from the facile inference that was drawn.
Harumph, indeed!