An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

5. imperative דֹמ ֲע י ִל ֲע
6. jussive דֹמ ֲעַי ל ַע֫ ַי
b There are two major conjugations, the suffix(ing), perfective (perfect, qatal, qtl) and
the prefix(ing), non-perfective (imperfect, yiqtol, yqtl). 2 The variety of terms used for
the[Page 456] conjugations gives a hint of the controversy that has surrounded
modern study of them. At the heart of the controversy is the fact that conjugations
have a variety of syntactic roles, related in part to the use of the conjunction waw. 3
Five major combinations are usually reckoned with. These include the perfective
without waw (# 7) and with waw (# 8), that is, qatal and weəqatal; and the nonperfective
without waw (yiqtol, # 9), with waw and doubling (wayyiqtol, # 10), and
with simple waw (weəyiqtol, # 11).
ִ ְ ַ֫
ָ ָ ֽ
ַ ְ
ְ
ַ
ַ
ְ ַ
ַ
ְ ְ
ַ ְ
7. qatal יתּדמ ָע הת ְלע 8. weəqatal דמ ָעו ה ָל ָעו 9. yiqtol דֹמ ֲעתּ ה ֶל ֲענ 10. wayyiqtol וּדמ ַעַיּ ו
ל ַעַיּ ו
11. weəyiqtol וּדמ ַעַי ו ה ֶל ֲענ ו
These five combinations have been the basis of much study, for it is not obvious
in what ways they are independent of each other. Other questions about the
conjugations involve their relations with the non-finite forms (particularly the relation
of the infinitives and the prefix conjugation), their time reference, and their
relationship to “tense” and aspect systems in other languages.
c The combinations are not equally common, as the following list of occurrences
reveals. 4
qatal 13,874 27% 20,252 40%
weəqatal 6,378 13%
yiqtol 14,299 28% 30,606 60%
2
Other, older names include qtl = Latin preteritum = Arabic al-māḍī= Hebrew ˓abar;
yqtl = Latin futurum = Arabic al-mustaqbal = Hebrew ˓atîd. Joüon uses perfect and
future, “terms vulgar and unmatched, for want of anything better; they at least have
the advantages of being short and of usually matching the reality”; Joüon §111b/ p.
290. For simplicity’s sake, we omit the diacritics from the terms qatal, etc.
3
Hans Bauer remarked that the Hebrew verbal system is one “which reasoning men
would never have thought of…since it came about through the blind force of
linguistic laws” (quoted in McFall, Hebrew Verbal System, 104). The same is true of
all linguistic systems, and all the various parts of linguistic systems, but the
observation does have a certain edge.
4
The list is based on McFall, Hebrew Verbal System, 186–88, cf. 150. The last three
lines of the list include cohortative and jussive forms. For slightly different counts and
a further breakdown, see Bo Johnson, Hebräisches Perfekt und Imperfekt mit
vorangehendem w e (Lund: Gleerup, 1979).