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Grammar Points: 1. The Qal Wayyiq
Grammar Points: 1. The Qal Wayyiq
Grammar points
You’ve already learned two of the basic Biblical Hebrew conjugations, the qaHal
and yiqHol. However, there’s also a third conjugation called the wayyiqVol, which
actually appears more frequently in biblical narrative than either the qaHal or yiqHol.
You saw many examples of the wayyiqHol in the story above. It resembles the qaHal
in that it’s used primarily to convey past actions, but its functions are quite different
from those of the qaHal. Let’s first look at how to form the wayyiqHol, and then return
to its uses.
Qal wayyiqVol
Plural Singular
Points to note:
Because the first consonant of the 1cs is a guttural, it can’t double when
prefixed by the waw-consecutive; instead, it undergoes compensatory length-
ening and is pointed with qameG.
Nothing can come between the waw-consecutive and the rest of the verb.
Roots with a guttural deviate from the above paradigm just as they do in the
yiqHol, e.g. 3/ f Q #
‘(and) he heard’.
F rom now on when new qal strong roots in the qal qaHal, yiqHol, or wayyiqHol
appear in the stories and biblical texts, they won’t be translated in the vocabulary
lists but instead will be parsed, which will allow you to work out the correct meaning
in the context. Verbs from stems and root classes that we haven’t yet studied will
continue to be translated until they’ve been examined in detail.
i. Preterite actions
The wayyiqHol is generally more straightforward in meaning than the qaHal or yiqHol:
it’s typically used to convey sequences of preterite actions, most commonly in narrative
(but also in dialogue). Think of it as the conjugation whose main job is to advance
1. The qal wayyiqtol 89
˙
plotlines set in the past: biblical stories (whether narrative or incidents recounted by
characters) are typically composed of a chain of wayyiqHols, each one representing
a link in the whole story; by contrast, qaHals and yiqHols are used when the narrator
or speaker wants to break away from the narrative temporarily in order to provide
some relevant information that doesn’t actually progress the main storyline. The literal
meaning of the wayyiqHol, ‘and then’, may also help to make its function clear. Biblical
Hebrew narrative is often composed of long chains of wayyiqHols, which can continue
indefinitely until something interrupts them (see point C below for examples of the
kinds of things that may cause interruptions). The waw-consecutive may be translated
in a variety of ways depending on what makes the most sense in the context, e.g. ‘then’,
‘so’, ‘and then’, ‘and’, ‘and so’. However, an overly literal translation of such sequences
would be full of ‘and then he said . . . and then he went . . . and then he wrote . . . and
then they said . . .’, which sounds awkward in English. Therefore, it’s often up to the
translator to decide how to interpret these sequences; you might want to vary it a bit,
leaving out the ‘and then’ unless the context seems to require it in English.
Note that because nothing can separate the waw-consecutive from the rest of the
verb, the wayyiqHol always precedes its subject. Similarly, the wayyiqHol cannot be
negated; in order to convey a negative preterite action, the qaHal must be used instead
(see point C below).
Note also that individual wayyiqHol verbs within a sequence need not have the same
subject; rather, each one can have a separate subject, without causing the chain to be
interrupted.
background information about events that had happened before the time of the
main storyline (i.e. pluperfects)
adverbs (words telling you when, where, or how something happened, e.g. -f
‘there’)
direct speech embedded within the narrative (though the wayyiqHol may be used
in a ‘mini-narrative’ sequence found inside direct speech).
Let’s look at a few examples. In the following sequence, the wayyiqHol is used in the
first case, while the qaHal is used in the second case because the intervening adverb
-f interrupts the narrative chain and ‘blocks’ another wayyiqHol.
In the next example, the first two wayyiqHols advance the storyline, but are interrupted
by the direct speech of the king; the narrative then resumes with another sequence of
wayyiqHols.
-') + ] !¡+
:/ Q # +)'
! !¡=
T+ ] ! 96 Q #
-'+ V !¡= -k 1 + ') 'k 4 ' !k 4 =L)+ ] !¡+ #
'! ' # =': K=: ) Q # T+ ] + K%+ 2 Q # ª-= !+ ) $4 'V
ª=L8: !¡+
) C -L+f
So the king visited the palace and said to the kings and queens, ‘Now I
know that you did not steal the vessels, because a goat has eaten them’.
Then they forgave the king and made a covenant, and there was peace
in all of the lands.
In the next example, the initial wayyiqHol is interrupted by a sequence that doesn’t
advance the narrative but rather describes what is going on at the same time as the
king’s sequential action of seeing. Note that the qaHal at the end of the extract is
preceded by :f (meaning ‘which’) and provides background information (i.e. has
a pluperfect sense); the wayyiqHol could not be used in such a context.
!+ ) $4 ! # ! j ! TL=C $4 ! ^! # T+ ] ! : Q #
ªK :f -'+ V !¡=
And the king looked, and there was a goat in the middle of the
field, and the goat was eating the vessels which had gone missing.
3. 'V introducing causal and complement clauses 91
Finally, in the next example the qaHal must be used because it’s preceded by the negative
particle, and therefore the wayyiqHol would be impossible.
-'+ V ! =
K1 1 +
‘We did not steal the vessels!’
clause. Moreover, if you try one translation and it doesn’t seem to make sense, then
the other one is probably correct. You can see this in the following extract from the
story, which contains examples of both uses of 'V
: the first 'V
follows a verb of
perception, 'k 4 '
‘I know’, and therefore can be assumed to mean ‘that’, while the
second one doesn’t, and therefore more likely means ‘because’.
'V can also mean ‘but rather’ and ‘indeed’; these usages will be pointed out as they
appear and discussed in later units. As with many other aspects of Biblical Hebrew
grammar, context will usually determine which is the right meaning, and as you gain
familiarity with the language, it will become easier and easier to distinguish between
the various uses.
In addition, ! ^! #
may appear in contexts not following a verb of sight or perception.
In such cases the particle still seems to indicate that the speaker or writer saw something