Isaac Fried wrote:We have just read today in Gen. 48:17
וירא יוסף כי ישית אביו יד ימינו על ראש אפרים
KJV: "And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim"
NIV: "When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head"
The verbal form ישית = היא - שית YA-$IYT of the root $IYT (similar to the ישיר YA$IYR of the root $IYR, 'sing', of Ex. 15:1) is formally recognized as a future ("qal imperfect") reference. Its employment here is either archaic with a pre-positioned personal pronoun he, instead of just שת $AT, or comes to indicates that Joseph caught his father in the nick of time, just before the actual placing of the hand. To wit: "When Joseph saw his father was about to lay his right hand upon the head of Ephraim"
Isaac Fried, Boston University
I agree with you Isaac. Your translation is better. If the verb had been שת $AT, it would have to be something like, "when Joseph saw that he had placed." I also think this proves Karl's point that the forms are modal, not tensed.
Jonathan Mohler