§ 111. The Imperfect with
Rem. 1. To this class belong some of the numerous imperfects consec. after various expressions of time, whenever such expressions are equivalent in meaning to a perfect2 (viz. b
hy"h' it came to pass), e.g. Is 6:1 in the year that king Uzziah died I saw(ha,r>a,w)' ), &c.; Gn 22:4, 27:34, Ju 11:16, 1 S 4:19, 17:57, 21:6, Ho 11:1: on the use ofyhiy>w: to connect expressions of time, see below, g.—It is only in late books or passages that we find the simple perfect in a clause following an expression of time, as 1 S 17:55 (cf. Driver on the passage), 2 Ch 12:7, 15:8, &c., Dn 10:11, 15:19; the Perfect afterw> and the subject, 2 Ch 7:1.
2. The continuation of the narrative by means of the imperfect consec. may result in a series of any number of such imperfects, e.g. there are forty-nine in Gn. 1. As soon, however, as the connecting c
WaÒw becomes separated from the verb to which it belongs, by the insertion of any word, the perfect necessarily takes the place of the imperfect, e.g. Gn 1:5 and Gud called (ar'q.YIw: ) the light Day, and the darkness he called (ar'q' %v,xñl;w> ) Night; verse 10, 2:20, 11:3 and frequently.
3. Of two co-ordinate imperfects consecutive the former (as equivalent to a temporal clause) is most frequently subordinate in sense to the latter, e.g. Gn 28:8f. d
%l,YEòw: …wf'[e ar>Y:w: when Esau saw that …, he went, &c.; so also, frequently[m;v.YIw: , &c., On 37:21, &c. On the other hand, a second imperfect consecutive is seldom used in an explanatory sense, e.g. Ex 2:10 (rm,aToñw: for she said); cf. 1 S 7:12. Other examples of the imperfect consecutive, which apparently represent a progress in the narrative, in reality only refer to the same time, or explain what precedes, see Gn 2:25 (Wyh.Y)iw: they ware; but Jos 4:9, 1 K 8:8 they are); On 36:14 (dl,Teñw: ), 36:22 (%l{m.YIw: ), 1 K 1:44.
4. The imperfect consecutive sometimes has such a merely external connexion with an immediately preceding perfect, that in reality it represents an antithesis to it, e.g. Gn 32:31 and (yet) my life is preserved; 2 S 3:8 and yet thou chargest me; Jb 10:8, 32:3; similarly in dependence on noun-clauses, Pr 30:25 ff. e
Rem. 1. This loose connexion by means of g
yhyw 3 is especially common, when the narrative or a new section of it begins with any expression of time, see above, b; cf., in addition to the above-mentioned examples (e, g. Gn 22:1 and it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham), the similar cases in Gn 19:34, 21:22, 1 S 11:11, Ru 1:1. Elsewhere the statement of time is expressed byB. orK. with an infinitive (Gn 12:14, 19:17. 29, 39:13, Nu 15:18 f., Ju 16:25) or by an independent sentence with the perfect (equivalent to a pluperfect, cf. § 106 f), e.g. Gn 15:17, 24:15, 27:30, or by a temporal clause introduced byyKi when, Gn 26:8, 27:1, Ju 16:16,rv,a]K; when, Gn 12:11, 20:13,za'me from the time that, Gn 39:5; or, finally, by a noun-clause (cf. § 116 u), e.g. 2 K 13:21vyai ~yrIb.q)o ~he yhiy>w: and it came to pass, as they were (just) burying a man (prop. they burying), that …; Gn 42:35, 2 K 2:11 (the apodosis in both these cases being introduced byhNEhiw> ); 1 S 7:10, 2 S 13:30, 2K 6:5, 26, 19:37( =Is 37:38).—In 1 S 10:11, 11:11 2 S 2:23, 15:2 a noun standing absolutely followsyhiy>w: (as the equivalent of a complete sentence; see below, h), and then an imperfect consecutive follows.
2. Closely related to the cases noticed in g are those in which the imperfect consecutive, even without a preceding h
yhyw , introduces the apodosis either—(a) to whole sentences, or (b) to what are equivalent to whole sentences, especially to nouns standing absolutely. As in certain cases of the perfect consecutive (see § 112 x), so the imperfect consective has here acquired a sort of independent force. Cf. for (a) 1 S 15:23 because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord,^s.a'm.YIw: he hath rejected thee (cf. Nu 14:16, Is 48:4, where the causal clause precedes in the form of an infinitive with preposition), Ex 9:21; for (b) Gn 22:24Avg>l;ypiW and (as to) his concubine …,dl,Teñw: she bare, &c.; Ex 38:24, Nu 14:36 f., 1 S 14:19, 17:24, 2 S 4:10, 19:41 Keth., 21:16, 1 K 9:20 f., 12:17, 2 K 25:22, Jer 6:19, 28:8, 33:24, 44:25.4—In 1 K 15:13, 2 K 16:14 the preceding noun, used absolutely, is even regarded as the object of the following imperfect consecutive, and is therefore introduced by-ta, .
Rem. Such consecutive clauses frequently occur after interrogative sentences, e.g. Is 51:12 who art thou (i.e. art thou so helpless), m
yair>yTiw: that thou art (must needs be) afraid?y Ps 144:3 (cf.y Ps 8:5, where in a very similary contextyKi that is used with the imperfect); Gn 12:19 (xQ;a,w)' ); 31:27^x]Lev;a]w)' so that I might hare sent thee away.
4. As regards the range of time it is to be carefully noticed —
Cf. the examples given above, under a and f, of the imperfect consecutive as an historic tense. The imperfect consecutive also frequently occurs as the continuation of a perfect (preterite) in a subordinate clause; e.g. Gn 27:1, Nu 11:20, Dt 4:37, 1 S 8:8, 1 K 2:5, 11:33, 18:13, &c.; also in Is 49:7 q
&'r,ñx'b.YIw: is the continuation of a preterite, contained, according to the sense, in the preceding!m'a/n). rv,a] .—In Jb 31:26, 34 the imperfect consecutive is joined to an imperfect denoting the past in a conditional sentence. An imperfect consecutive occurs in dependence on a perfect which has the sense of a pluperfect (§ 106 f ), e.g. in Gn 26:18, 28:6 f., 31:19. 34 (now Rachel had taken the teraphim,~mefiT.w: and had put them, &c.); Nu 14:36, 1 S 28:3, 2 S 2:23, Is 39:1. Finally there are the cases in which an infinitival or participial construction representing past time, according to § 113r, § 116 x, is taken up and continued by an imperfect consecutive.
(
Rem. An imperfect consecutive in dependence on a perfect or imperfect, which represents an action occurring only conditionally, is likewise used only in a hypothetical sense, e.g. Jb 9:16 x
ynInEò[]Y);w: ytiar'ñq'-~ai if I had called, and he had answered me, yet …;y Ps 139:11rm;aow)' if I should say (previously, in verse 8f., hypothetical imperfects are used).—In Is 48:18f. an imperfect consecutive occurs in dependence on a sentence expressing a wish introduced byaWl utinam (yhiy>w: and it, or so that it were, equivalent to then should it be). Cf. also the examples mentioned above, under l (Jer 20:17) and m (Gn 31:27), where the imperfect consecutive expresses facts occurring contingently.
Footnotes:
1[1] On an apparent exception (the imperf. consec. at the beginning of whole books) see § 49 b note.
2[2] Cf. Is 45:4, where the imperf. consec. is joined to an abrupt statement of the cause, and Jb 36:7, where it is joined to an abrupt statement of the place.
4[2] Cf. the
5[1] Also in Jer 51:29 the imperfects consecutive are attached to the threat virtually contained in the preceding imperatives. On the other hand