§ 49. The Perfect and Imperfect with WaÒw Consecutive.

a

1. The use of the two tense-forms, as is shown more fully in the Syntax (§§ 106, 107, cf. above, § 47, note on a), is by no means restricted to the expression of the past or future. One of the most striking peculiarities in the Hebrew consecution of tenses1 is the phenomenon that, in representing a series of past events, only the first verb stands in the perfect, and the narration is continued in the imperfect. Conversely, the representation of a series of future events begins with the imperfect, and is continued in the perfect. Thus in 2 K 20:1, In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death (perf.), and Isaiah … came (imperf.) to him, and said (imperf.) to him, &c. On the other hand, Is 7:17, the Lord shall bring (imperf.) upon thee … days, &c., 7:18, and it shall come to pass (perf. hy"h'w>) in that day …

b

This progress in the sequence of time, is regularly indicated by a pregnant and (called waÒw consecutive2), which in itself is really only a variety of the ordinary waÒw copulative, but which sometimes (in the imperf.) appears with a different vocalization. Further, the tenses connected by waÒw consecutive sometimes undergo a change in the tone and consequently are liable also to other variations.

c

2. The waÒw consecutive of the imperfect is (a) pronounced with PathahÌ and a Dagesë forte in the next letter, as ljoq.YIw: and he killed; before a of the 1st pers. sing. (according to § 22 c) with QamesÌ, as ljoq.a,w)' and I killed. Exceptions are, %Sek;a]w); Ez 16:10 according to the Dikduke ha-eamim, § 71; also Whteñt.moa]w); 2 S 1:10 according to QimhÌi; but in Ju 6:9 vreg"a]w)' should be read according to Baer, and  äa]w)' in both places in Ju 20:6. Dagesë forte is always omitted in the preformative y>, in accordance with § 20 m.

d

(b) When a shortening of the imperfect form is possible (cf. § 48 g), it takes effect, as a rule (but cf. § 51 n), after waÒw consec., e. g. in Hiphil ljeq.Y:w: (§ 53 n). The tendency to retract the tone from the final syllable is even stronger after waÒw consec. than in the jussive. The throwing back of the tone on to the penultima (conditional upon its being an open syllable with a long vowel, § 29 a), further involves the greatest possible shortening of the vowel of the ultima, since the vowel then comes to stand in a toneless closed syllable, e. g. ~Wqy", juss. ~qoñy", with waÒw consec. ~q'Y"òw: and he arose (§ 67 n and x, § 68 d, § 69 p, § 71, § 72 t and aa, § 73 e).3

e

In the first pers. sing. alone the retraction of the tone and even the reducing of the long vowel in the final syllable ( to , to , and then to and ) are not usual,4 at least according to the Masoretic punctuation, and the apocope in verbs h¾¾l occurs more rarely; e. g. always ~Wqa'w)' (or ~quña'w)', a merely orthographic difference) and I arose; Hiph. ~yqia'w)' (but generally written ~qia'w)', implying the pronunciation waÒÈaÒÃqem, as ~qua'w)' implies waÒÈaÒqoçm); ha,r>a,w)' and I saw, more frequently than ar,aeñw", § 75 t. On the other hand, the form with final h¤' is often used in the 1st pers. both sing. and plur., especially in the later books, e. g. hx'l.v.a,w)' and I sent, Gn 32:6, 41:11, 43:21, Nu 8:19 (hn"T.a,w)', as in Ju 6:9, 1 S 2:28, and often, probably a sort of compensation for the lost n); Ju 6:10, 12:3, 2 S 22:24, y Ps 3:6, 7:5, 90:10, 119:55, Jb 1:15 ff., 19:20, Ez 7:28, 8:25, 9:3, Neh 2:13, 5:7, 8, 13, 6:11, 13:7–11, 21 f., &c. — Sometimes, as in y Ps 3:6, with a certain emphasis of expression, and probably often, as in Ju 10:12, h['yviñAaw)' before a, for euphonic reasons. In Is 8:2 hd'y[iña'w)' may have been originally intended; in y Ps 73:16  äxa]w)' and in Jb 30:26  äya]w)'. In Ez 3:3 read h'l,k.ao)w" or Hl'k.ao)w".

f

This ·w is in meaning a strengthened waÒw copulative, and resembles in pronunciation the form which is retained in Arabic as the ordinary copula (waç).5 The close connexion of this waç with the following consonant, caused the latter in Hebrew to take Dagesë, especially as could not have been retained in an open syllable. Cf. hM'B;àhM'K;àhM'l'ñ (for hM'l;), where the prepositions B. and l., and the particle K., are closely connected with hm' in the same way (§ 102 k).

g

The retraction of the tone also occurs in such combinations, as in hM'l'ñ (for hM'ñl; § 102 l).—The identity of many consecutive forms with jussives of the same conjugation must not mislead us into supposing an intimate relation between the moods. In the consecutive forms the shortening of the vowel (and the retraction of the tone) seems rather to be occasioned solely by the strengthening of the preformative syllable, while in the jussives the shortening (and retraction) belongs to the character of the form.

h

3. The counterpart of waÒw consecutive of the imperfect is waÒw consecutive of the perfect, by means of which perfects are placed as the sequels in the future to preceding actions or events regarded as incomplete at the time of speaking, and therefore in the imperfect, imperative, or even participle. This waÒw is in form an ordinary waÒw copulative, and therefore shares its various vocalization (w>àWàw", as 2 K 7:4, and w:); e. g. hy"h'w>, after an imperfect, &c., and so it happens = and it will happen. It has, however, the effect, in certain verbal forms, of shifting the tone from the penultima, generally on to the ultima, e. g. yTik.l;ñh' I went, consecutive form yTiñk.l;h†'w> and I will go, Ju 1:3, where it is co-ordinated with another perfect consecutive, which again is the consecutive to an imperative. See further on this usage in § 112.

i

As innumerable examples show, the QamesÌ of the first syllable is retained in the strong perf. consec. Qal, as formerly before the tone, so now in the secondary tone, and therefore necessarily takes Metheg. On the other hand, the of the second syllable in verbs middle upon losing the tone necessarily becomes , e. g. T'ñl.k'y)'w> Ex 18:23.

k

The shifting forward of the tone after the waÒw consecutive of the perfect is, however, not consistently carried out. It is omitted—(a) always in the 1st pers. pl., e. g. Wnb.X;ñy"w> Gn 34:16; (b) regularly in HiphÇil before the afformatives h¤' and W, see § 53 r; and (c) in many cases in verbs a¾¾l and h¾¾l, almost always in the 1st sing. of a¾¾l (Jer 29:14), and in h¾¾l if the vowel of the 2nd syllable is i, Ex 17:6, 26:4, 6, 7, 10 ff., Ju 6:26, &c., except in Qal (only Lv 24:5, before a) and the 2nd sing. masc. of HiphÇil-forms before a, Nu 20:8, Dt 20:13, 1 S 15:3, 2 K 13:17; similarly in PiÇeÒl before a, Ex 25:24, Jer 27:4. On the other hand the tone is generally moved forward if the second syllable has (in a¾¾l Gn 27:10 &c., in h¾¾l Ex 40:4, Jer 33:6, Ez 32:7); but cf. also t'areñy"w> Lv 19:14, 32 and frequently, always before the counter-tone, Jo 4:21, y Ps 19:14.6 With in the penultima the form is t'af'ñn"w> Is 14:4, and probably also t'ar'ñq'w> Jer 2:2, 3:12, 1 S 10:2 with little TeliÖsëaÒ, a postpositive accent.

l

But before a following a the ultima mostly bears the tone on phonetic grounds, e. g. -la,t'ñab'W Gn 6:18, Ex 3:18, Zc 6:10 (by the side of t'ab'ñW), &c. (cf., however, t'ar'ñq'w>, before a, Gn 17:19, Jer 7:27, Ez 36:29); -ta, t'ñyKihiw> Ju 6:16, cf. Ex 25:11, Lv 24:5 (but also -ta, ytiyWIòciw> Lv 25:21). Likewise, before h, Am 8:9, and [, e. g. Gn 26:10, 27:12, Lv 26:25 (cf., however, wyl'[' ytiar'ñq'w>, Ez 38:21); on verbs [¾¾[, see § 67 k and ee.

m

(d) The tone always keeps its place when such a perfect stands in pause, e. g. T'[.b†'f'w> Dt 6:11, 11:15; T'r>m+'a'w> Is 14:4, Ju 4:8; sometimes even in the lesser pause, as Dt 2:28, Ez 3:26, 1 S 29:8 (where see Driver), with Zaqeph qatÌon; and frequently also immediately before a tone-syllable (according to § 29 e), as in HB+' hT'b.v;ñy"w> Dt 17:14, Ez 14:13, 17:22, Am 1:4, 7, 10, 12—but also Hb'ê T'ñq.v;x†'w> Dt 21:11, 23:14. 24:19, 1 K 8:46.

Footnotes:

1[1] The other Semitic languages do not exhibit this peculiarity, excepting the Phoenician, the most closely related to Hebrew, and of course the Moabitish dialect of the MeÖsëaÇ inscription, which is practically identical with Old Hebrew. It also appears in the inscription of rKz of HamaÒth (cf. Nöldeke, ZA. 1908, p. 379) where we find ydy aFaw and I lifted up my hand, ynn[yw and he answered me, after a perfect of narration.

2[1] This name best expresses the prevailing syntactical relation, for by waÒw consecutive an action is always represented as the direct, or at least temporal consequence of a preceding action. Moreover, it is clear from the above examples, that the waÒw consecutive can only be thus used in immediate conjunction with the verb. As soon as waÒw, owing to an insertion (e. g. a negative), is separated from the verb, the imperfect follows instead of the perfect consecutive, the perfect instead of the imperfect consecutive. The fact that whole Books (Lev., Num., Josh., Jud., Sam., 2 Kings, Ezek., Ruth, Esth., Neb., 2 Chron.) begin with the imperfect consecutive, and others (Exod., 1 Kings, Ezra) with waÒw copulative, is taken as a sign of their close connexion with the historical Books now or originally preceding them. Cf., on the other hand, the independent beginning of Job and Daniel. It is a merely superficial description to call the waÒw consecutive by the old-fashioned name waÒw conversive, on the ground that it always converts the meaning of the respective tenses into its opposite, i. e. according to the old view, the future into the preterite, and vice versa.

3[1] The plural rorms in !W also occur less frequently after waÒw consecutive; cf., however, !WbyrIy>w: Ju 8:1, 11:18, Am 6:3, Ez 44:8, Dt 4:11, 5:20. The 2nd fem. sing. in !y¤i never occurs after waÒw consecutive.

4[2] In the 1st plur. dymi[]N);w: Neh 4:3, is the only instance in which the vowel remains unreduced (cf. bwvnw, i. e. bWvN"w:, 4:9 Keth.; QereÖ bv'N"òw:). On the treatment of the tone in the imperfect, imperative, and infinitive NiphÇal, see § 51 n.

5[3] In usage the Hebrew waÒw does duty fur the Arabic faç (waÒw apodosis, see § 143 d) as well as waç.

6[1] The irregularity in the tone of these perfects manifestly results from following conflicting theories, not that of Ben Asher alone.