An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

as both W. Gross (arguing from a range of poetic texts) and T. J. Finley (basing
himself on Amos) have recently contended. 6
d These two studies rightly suggest that wayyqtl signifies other notions than that of a
preterite. In addition to occurring after the suffix conjugation, wayyqtl also occurs
with the prefix conjugation, participles, nominal clauses, and infinitives; in all of
these connections it may refer to either present or future time as well as past.
e Whether wayyqtl originated in the short prefix conjugation, yaqtul, it shows in
Hebrew meanings equivalent to those of the suffix conjugation. Like that conjugation
it tends to represent concrete and specific situations according to the perfective aspect.
As we shall see, it may signify a past constative situation, a perfect state, or a present
state with stative verbs, a persistent or gnomic perfective, etc. When a chain of wawrelatives
is broken, the verb reverts to the suffix conjugation, a phenomenon strongly
suggesting that the two forms are equivalent, apart from the value of the waw-relative
bound to it.
1. רוֹא ָל םיהלֹא ִ ארָ ְקִיּ וַ
ה ָלְי֑ ל ָ ארָ ק ָ֫ ךְ ֶשֹׁח ַלו ְ םוֹי
And God called the light day, and the darkness he called
night.
Gen 1:5
The apparent equivalency of wayyqtl with qtl with respect to aspect finds an
analogy in the equivalency of relative wqtl with the prefix conjugation. In fact,
relative wqtl may[Page 547] have influenced the development of wayyqtl as an
“alternative” suffix conjugation, to be used when the situation is conceived of as
dependent on a prior one.
f This evidence strongly favors interpreting those instances of wayyqtl which must be
taken as referring to the present or future according to the meaning and uses of the
suffix nilotion rather than according to those of the prefix conjugation; that is, instead
of regarding a form as representing a customary situation or a dependent future
situation, etc., we prefer to interpret it as denoting a gnomic perfective or specific
future, etc. It should be underscored that such a gnomic perfective interpretation, for
example, does not derive solely from a descriptive analysis of the passages in
question, but also from the other evidence that wayyqtl functions as an equivalent of
the suffix conjugation.
g In sum, wayyqtl subjectively represents a situation according to the perfective aspect
and subordinates it to a preceding statement. Since these two features, subordination
and perfective aspect, are distinct and yet always present, we analyze separately the
diverse kinds of subordinate connection (33.2) and the diverse functions of the
perfective aspect (33.3). Since the perfective conjugation was studied in depth in
Chapter 30, we do not aim here to be exhaustive but only to comment on a sufficient
6 W. Gross, Verbform und Funktion: Wayyiqṭol für die Gegenwart? (St. Ottilien: EOS.
1976); Finley, “Waw-Consecutive with ‘Imperfect.’ ” Related studies are discussed in
Chap. 29.