Imperfect with Strong Vav. Vav Conv. Impf.

Imperfect with Strong Vav. Vav Conv. Impf.
§ 47. Vav conv. impf. follows a simple perf. in any of the senses of the perf. In usage, however, it has become a tense-form in these meanings of the perf. in narrative style, though no perf. immediately precedes. If the connexion of vav and impf. be broken through anything such as a neg. or other word coming between, the discourse returns to the simple perf. Genesis 1:5 ‏וְלַחשֶׁךְ קָרָא‎... ‏וַיִּקְרָא לָאוֹר‎ Genesis 4:4-5 ‏וַיִּשַׁע י׳ אֶל־הֶבֶל וְאֶל־קַיִן לֹא שָׁעָה‎ and Je. had respect to Abel, but to Cain he had not respect.
As to the kind of connexion between the preceding and vav impf. the latter may express either what is strictly consequential, or what is merely successive in time, or what is only successive in the mind of the speaker. In the last case the event or fact expressed by vav impf. may really be identical with the preceding event, and a repetition of it, or synchronous with it, or even anterior to it; the speaker expresses them in the order in which they occur to him, so that the and is merely connective, though the form retains its conversive meaning. Genesis 40:23 ‏וַיִּשְׁכָּחֵֽהוּ‎... ‏לֹא זָכַר‎ he remembered not Joseph, and forgat him; Judges 16:10 ‏הֵתַלְתָּ בִּי וַתְּדַבֵּר אֵלַי כְּזָבִים‎ thou hast cheated me, and told me lies. With vav perf., Judges 14:12 ‏אִם הַגֵּד תַּגִּידוּ לִי וּמְצָאתֶם‎ if ye will tell it me, and find it out. After ‏עשׂה‎ to do, vav impf. is often merely explanatory, 1 Kings 18:13. ‏את אשׁר עָשִׂיתִי וָֽאַחְבּא‎ what I did and hid, &c. Genesis 31:26, Exodus 1:18; Exodus 19:4, Judges 9:16, 1 Kings 2:5, 2 Chronicles 2:2, cf. Nehemiah 13:17 :2 Sa. 2 Chronicles 14:5 I am a widow ‏וַיָּֽמָת אִישִׁי‎ and my husband is dead. Judges 2:21 ‏אשׁר עָזַב יהו׳ וַיָּמתֹ‎ which Joshua left and died. So vav impf. often merely sums up the result of a preceding narrative, Judges 3:30 ‏וַתִּכָּנַע מוֹאָב‎ so Moab was subdued; Judges 8:28.
§ 48. (a) Vav impf. continues a perf. in sense of Eng. past; and it is usual in this sense in narrative, although no perf. actually precedes. Genesis 3:13 ‏הַנָּחָשׁ הִשִּׁיאַנִי וָֽאֹכֵל‎ the serpent deceived me, and I ate. Genesis 4:1; Genesis 7:19, 1 Samuel 15:24. With neg., Genesis 4:5 unto Cain ‏לֹא שָׁעָה וַיִּחַר לְקַיִן מְאֹד‎ he had not respect, and C. was very angry. Genesis 8:9, Jeremiah 20:17, Job 3:11; Job 32:3 did not find an answer and condemn (so as to condemn). With interrog., Genesis 12:19.—When vav is separated from verb, Genesis 31:33 ‏וְלֹא מָצָא‎... ‏וַיָּבֹא‎ Genesis 41:21, Judges 6:10.
(b) It continues perf. in sense of Eng. perf. with have. Genesis 3:17 ‏כִּי שָׁמַעְתָּ לְקוֹל אִשְׁתְּךָ וַתֹּאכַל‎ hast hearkened and eaten. Genesis 16:5 ‏וָֽאֵקַל‎ and I am despised; Genesis 32:31. With interr., Deuteronomy 4:33 ‏הְַשָׁמַע עָם קוֹל א׳ וַיֶּֽחִי‎ has a people heard the voice of God and lived? With neg. 1 Samuel 15:19 ‏וְלָמָּה לֹא־שָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקוֹל י׳ וַתַּעַט‎ why hast thou not obeyed, but hast flown upon the spoil? 1 Samuel 19:17, Job 9:4.—Joshua 4:9 he set up 12 stones ‏וַיִּֽהְיוּ שָׁם‎ and they are there to this day. Isaiah 50:7, Jeremiah 8:6. Genesis 32:4, 1 Samuel 19:5.
(c) In the sense of plup. Genesis 39:13 ‏כִּי עָזַב בִּגְדוֹ וַיָּֽנָס‎ had left his garment and fled; Genesis 31:34 ‏וַתְּשִׂמֵם‎... ‏וְרָחֵל לָֽקְחָה וַתֵּשֶׁב עְַלֵיהֶם‎... now R. had taken the Teraphim, and put them in the camel's saddle, and sitten down upon them. Genesis 27:1; Genesis 26:18, Exodus 15:19, Numbers 21:26, Joshua 10:1, Judges 4:11, 1 Samuel 30:1-2, 2 Samuel 18:18, 1 Kings 2:41. Isaiah 39:1 ‏כִּי חָלָה וַיְֶּֽחֶזַק‎ heard that he had been sick, and was better.
(d) After hypothetical or conditional perf. 1 Samuel 25:34
‏לוּלֵי מִהַרְתְּ וַתָּבֹאִי‎ (so rd.) unless thou hadst made haste and come; Exodus 20:25 ‏כִּי חַרְבְּךָ הֵנַפְתָּ עָלֶיהָ וַתְּחַֽלְַלֶהָ‎ hast thou lifted up thy iron upon it, thou hast polluted it. Proverbs 11:2 ‏בָּא זָדוֹן וַיָּבֹא קָלוֹן‎ has pride come, shame has come (when pride comes then, &c.), cf. Proverbs 18:3.—Numbers 5:27, Psalms 139:11, Proverbs 18:22, Job 9:16; Job 23:13. In Opt. Sent. Joshua 7:7, Isaiah 48:18.
Rem. 1. The contrast in such passages as Genesis 32:30 ‏רָאִיתִי א׳ וַתִּנָּצֵל נַפְשִׁי‎ I have seen God and (yet) my life is preserved hardly lies in the vav, but is suggested by the two events. 2 Samuel 3:8. Neither is it probable that the vav expresses an inference; Job 2:3 ‏וַתְּסִיתֵנִי‎ is not, and so (so that) thou settest me on. The ref. is rather to Satan's insinuation, ch. Job 1:9 seq.
Rem. 2. It is questionable whether vav impf. has the sense of plup. except in continuance of a perf. of that meaning. When and introduces something anterior to the general narrative, it is usually disconnected with the verb, which is then preceded by its subj. (§ 39c). There are a few peculiar cases, Exodus 32:29, 1 Samuel 14:24, 1 Kings 13:12, Isaiah 39:1, Jeremiah 39:11, Zechariah 7:2, Nehemiah 2:9. There is nothing to show that Exodus 32:29 is anterior, it seems parallel to Exodus 32:26-27. In 1 Samuel 14:24 Sep. has a different text in which ‏וַיֹּאֶל‎ stands quite regularly. In 1 Kings 13:12 the sense requires hiph. ‏וַיַּרְאוּ‎ and they showed. Possibly Isaiah 39:1 should rd. as 2 Kings 20:12 ‏כי שׁמע‎, though the mere fact of a different reading is not conclusive. See Driver's exhaustive note p. 84.
§ 49 (a) Vav impf. continues a perf. of experience, expressing a common truth. Isaiah 40:24 ‏נָשַׁף בָּהֶם וַיִּבָֽשׁוּ‎ he blows upon them, and they wither; Job 7:9 ‏כָּלָה עָנָן וַיֵּלַךְ‎ the cloud wastes away and vanishes. Nahum 3:16, Job 14:2; Job 24:2, Job 24:11. So in continuance of a ptcp. with this meaning. Amos 5:8 ‏הַקּוֹרֵא לְמֵי הַיָּם וַיִּשְׁפְּכֵם‎ who calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them; Amos 9:5.—Genesis 49:17, 1 Samuel 2:6, Jeremiah 10:13, Amos 6:3, Micah 7:3, Nahum 1:4, Psalms 34:7, cf Psalms 34:21, Job 12:18, Job 12:22-25, Proverbs 21:22.
(b) In continuance of prophetic perf. Isaiah 9:6 ‏בֵּן נִתַּן־לָנוּ וַיִּקְרָא‎... ‏וַתְּהִי‎ a son has been given us, and the government is laid upon his shoulder, and they have called. Psalms 22:29 ‏אָֽכְלוּ וַיִּשְׁתַּֽחְַווּ‎ all the fat of the earth have eaten and worshipped. In such cases the fut. is almost necessary in Engl. owing to our different way of thinking. Isaiah 5:25; Isaiah 24:18; Isaiah 48:20-21, Micah 2:13, Jeremiah 8:16, Psalms 20:8. After perf. of confidence, Psalms 109:28. With no preceding perf., but stating the issue of actions just described, Isaiah 2:9 ‏וַיִּשַּׁח אָדָם וַיִּשְׁפַּל־אִישׁ‎ therefore men are brought down, and man humbled (punishment, not practice as A.V.), cf. Isaiah 5:15; Isaiah 44:12, Isaiah 44:13. Job 5:15-16; Job 36:7. Or confident expectation, Psalms 64:8-10 ‏וַיֹּרֵם‎ hath shot at them, &c. Psalms 94:22-23; Psalms 37:40.
§ 50. (a) Vav impf. continues any verbal form as inf. or ptcp. which is used in a sense equivalent to a perf., and even a simple impf. having reference to past time. Genesis 39:18 ‏כַּֽהְַרִימִי קוֹלִי וָֽאֶקְרָא‎ when I lifted up my voice and cried; Genesis 35:3 ‏לָאֵל הָֽעֹנֶה אֹתִי וַיְהִי עִמָּדִי‎ who answered me, and was with me. See exx. § 96, and R. 2, and § 100 e. Genesis 27:33; Genesis 28:6, 1 Kings 18:18, Psalms 50:16 (past is reviewed).—Psalms 3:5 ‏קוֹלִי אֶל־י׳ אֶקְרָא וַיַּֽעְַנֵנִי‎ I cried aloud unto Je., and he heard me. Psalms 52:7; Psalms 95:10, 1 Samuel 2:29, 1 Samuel 2:1 K. 20, 33, Deuteronomy 2:12, Jeremiah 52:7, Hosea 11:4, cf. Genesis 37:18.
(b) Vav impf. may naturally follow anything which forms a starting-point for a development, though not a verb, such as a statement of time, a casus pendens, or the like. Genesis 22:4 ‏בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי וַיִּשָּׂא אֶת־עֵינָיו‎ on the third day he lifted up his eyes; Isaiah 6:1 ‏בִּשְׁנַת מוֹת הַמֶּלֶךְ וָֽאֶרְאֶה‎. 1 Samuel 4:20; 1 Samuel 21:6, Hosea 11:1, Psalms 138:3. 1 Kings 15:13 ‏וְגַם אֶת־מ אִמּוֹ וַיְסִרֶהָ מִגְּבִירָה‎ and also Maacha his mother he removed from being dowager, 1 Kings 12:17. Hosea 13:6 ‏כְּמַרְעִיתָם וַיִּשְׂבָּֽעוּ‎ the more their pasture, the more they ate themselves full. Genesis 22:24, 2 Kings 16:14, Jeremiah 6:19, Micah 2:13, Exodus 14:20. After ‏הנה‎ Numbers 22:11. In 2 Samuel 11:12 ‏וּמִמָּֽחֳרָת‎ begins 2 Samuel 11:13. Similarly after a clause stating the ground or reason. 1 Samuel 15:23 ‏וַיִּמְאָֽסְךָ מִמֶּלֶךְ‎... ‏יַעַן מָאַסְתָּ‎ because thou hast rejected the word of Je. he has rejected thee from being king. 1 Kings 10:9, Isaiah 45:4; Isaiah 48:5, Job 36:9, Psalms 59:15 (Hitz. ‏וְילינו‎), cf. 1 Samuel 2:16. Proverbs 25:4 (inf. abs.).
And vav impf. regularly continues another vav impf., as Numbers 22:21-22 ‏וַיִּֽחַר־אַף א׳‎... ‏וַיֵּלֶךְ‎... ‏וַיָּֽקָם בל׳ וַיַּֽחְַבשׁ‎ and Balaam arose and saddled his ass, and went... and the anger of God was kindled.
§ 51. In such sentences as and in course of time Cain brought, or, and when they were in the field Cain rose up, i.e. when the circumstances, temporal or adverbial, under which the action was performed are stated, the language prefers to use co-ordinate clauses, prefixing ‏וַיְהִי‎ and it was. Genesis 4:3 ‏וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ יָמִים וַיָּבֵא קַיִן‎ and it was in course of time that (and) Cain brought; Genesis 4:8 ‏וַיְהִי בִּֽהְיוֹתָם בַּשָּׂדֶה וַיָּֽקָם ק׳‎ and it was when they were in the field that C. rose up. This construction is the usual one in prose narrative. See for variety of usage Genesis 12:11, Genesis 12:14; Genesis 19:34; Genesis 21:22; Genesis 22:20; Genesis 24:52; Genesis 26:8; Genesis 27:1; Genesis 29:13; Genesis 41:8, Judges 1:14; Judges 11:4, 1 Samuel 10:11; 1 Samuel 11:11 end, 2 Samuel 2:23.
Rem. 1. Such a sentence as and when they saw her they praised her may be made in various ways. 1. ... ‏וַיְהִי כִּרְאֹתָם‎... ‏וַיְהַֽלְַלוּ‎ 2. ... ‏כִּרְאֹתָם‎... ‏וַיְהַֽלְַלוּ‎ 3. ... ‏וַיְהַֽלְַלוּ‎... ‏וַיִּרְאוּ‎. The first is usual; the second with inf. back in the clause is classical, e.g. Genesis 32:25; Genesis 34:7 (Genesis 35:9); the third not unusual with see, hear, and finish ‏כִּלָּה‎ (Genesis 24:19; Genesis 30:1; Genesis 37:21, Exodus 34:33, 2 Samuel 11:27), but also in other cases. Other forms are rarer, e.g. Genesis 27:34 ‏וַיְהַֽלְַלוּ‎... ‏כּרְאֹתָם‎ without and (cf. 2 Samuel 15:10); or mainly late, as ‏וַיְהללו‎... ‏וְכִרְאֹתָם‎ or ‏הִֽלְַלוּ‎... ‏וְכִרְ׳‎ with and at the beginning.
The secution to ‏ויהי‎ is not always vav impf., though this is usual. These forms appear 1. ‏וַיָּבֵא ק׳‎... ‏וַיְהִי‎. 2. ‏ויהי הֵבִיא ק׳‎... 3. ‏וְקַיִן הֵבִיא‎... ‏ויהי‎. 4. ‏וְהִנֵּה ק׳‎... ‏ויהי‎. Exx. of 2, Genesis 40:1, Exodus 16:27, Deuteronomy 9:11, Joshua 10:27, 1 Samuel 18:30, 1 Kings 11:4; 1 Kings 14:25; 1 Kings 15:29; 1 Kings 17:17. Of 3, Genesis 7:10; Genesis 15:12; Genesis 22:1, Exodus 12:29, 1 Samuel 18:1, 2 Samuel 3:6, 2 Kings 2:9. In 4 ‏הנה‎ is usually followed by ptcp. or nominal sent.
Rem. 2. Ex. of vav impf. after stative verb, Isaiah 3:16, are haughty and walk; Psalms 16:9. The impf. after ‏אָז‎, &c. referring to the past (§ 45) is also continued by vav impf. Joshua 8:30-31; Joshua 10:12; Joshua 22:1, 1 Kings 3:16; 1 Kings 11:7 perf., 2 Kings 12:17. On the other hand, the secution of fut. perf. (§ 41c) is usually vav perf. or simple impf., Judges 9:9, 1 Samuel 26:9, Isaiah 4:4; Isaiah 55:10-11, Genesis 26:10; Genesis 43:9. So very often the proph. perf. (§ 41b) and perf. of confidence is continued by vav perf., the ideal position not being maintained. Genesis 9:13; Genesis 17:20, Numbers 24:17, Deuteronomy 15:6, 2 Kings 5:20, Isaiah 2:11; Isaiah 43:14.
Rem. 3. In the brief language of poetry vav impf. sometimes expresses a dependence which is usually expressed by ‏כִּי‎. Isaiah 51:12-13 ‏מִי־אַתְּ וַתִּֽירְאִי‎ who art thou that thou fearest? Psalms 144:3 with Psalms 8:5. Cf. Isaiah 49:7.
Rem. 4. Vav impf. express the ingress or entrance upon realisation of the second action in connection with the first. But the second is confined to the sphere of the first, and has not independent duration, as an unconnected impf. might have. Thus ‏אָמַר וַיְהִי‎ he said, and it was, is all bounded by one circle, so that and it was becomes in usage the expression of a finished fact, taking on the quality of the preceding perf. Hence vav impf. comes to stand independently in the sense of the perf. It may be interjected like the perf. amidst other forms (§ 41b), Psalms 55:17; Psalms 55:19, Habakkuk 1:10, or stand unconnected with immediately preceding forms, Psalms 8:5 and thou didst let him want, adding merely another fact; cf. 2 Samuel 19:1, where mourns is a larger idea than "weeps" which it embraces (unless "mourns" were understood of successive fits of lamentation). The fact expressed by vav. impf. may be completed really or only ideally. Jeremiah 38:9 and he is dead (must die) of hunger; Job 10:8 and thou hast swallowed me up; Job 10:22 and it has shone (its light is) as darkness. Cf. the instructive pass. Numbers 12:12.
In such poetical passages as Job 4:5; Job 6:21; Job 14:10, where vav impf. appears to follow a present, it is not the vav impf. but the preceding verbs that are peculiar. The vigorous poetical style expresses the completed acts touch, see, die, by the impf. (pres.), cf. Job 14:10 b.— It is not always easy to perceive the significance of the changes in secution; cf. Amos 9:5 with Psalms 104:32, Hosea 8:13, Micah 6:16, Psalms 42:5 with Psalms 42:12, Job 7:17-18; Job 9:20, Psalms 52:7.
Rem. 5. The use of the impf., particularly in poetry, can hardly be accounted for by supposing that it expresses in every case some meaning distinctively belonging to the simple impf. This difficulty has induced some scholars to assume that the vav conv. forms may be broken up and still retain the conversive sense. Hitz. proceeds on these principles: 1. vav and the verb may be separated, so that ‏קָטְלוּ‎... ‏וְ‎ = ‏וְקטלו‎ vav perf., and ‏יַקְטֵל‎... ‏וְ‎, ‏יַקְטִיל‎... ‏וְ‎ = ‏וַיַּקְטֵל‎, and so ‏יִקְטֹל‎... ‏וְ‎ = ‏וַיִּקְטֹל‎. Job 5:11; Job 28:25, Isaiah 29:16, Psalms 22:21; Psalms 27:10; Psalms 44:10, Job 3:25 b; Job 4:11, Jeremiah 44:22. 2. The simple impf. forms without vav may be equivalent to the convers. forms where the latter might have stood, viz. at the head of the clause, so that ‏יַקְטִיל‎, ‏יַקְטֵל‎ = ‏וַיַּקְטֵל‎ and ‏יּקְטֹל‎ = ‏וַיִּקְטֹל‎, Psalms 8:6; Psalms 18:12; Psalms 44:11; Psalms 81:8; Psalms 138:3; Psalms 139:13, Hosea 6:1. 3. The simple impf. forms (without vav in the clause) may be equivalent to the convers. forms in the middle of a clause, just because there the vav conv. forms could not stand, the vav necessarily falling away! Psalms 32:5; Psalms 60:12; Psalms 114:3. Cf. Hitzig on Psalms 32:5; Psalms 30:9; Psalms 39:4; Psalms 116:3, Jeremiah 15:6; Jeremiah 44:22.
The exx. cited by Ew. indicate that he proceeds virtually on the same principles. 1. Psalms 69:21 impf. disjoined from vav (in secution to vav impf.). 2. Psalms 78:15 no vav but impf. at head of the clause where vav conv. impf. might have stood. So Psalms 78:26; Psalms 78:49, Psalms 50:3. Psalms 81:6 no vav in the clause and impf. (after perf.) not at the head. So Psalms 106:18; Psalms 107:6, Psalms 107:13. Driver admits of two cases: 1. Separation of vav by tmesis, but only with strictly modified form (‏יַקְטֵל‎ &c.). And 2. strictly modified form at head of clause without vav. If the principle be admitted at all, however, it will be necessary to go further, because the strictly modified forms are so few, and even they are not always employed.
In regard to 1, 3 of Hitz. above, it is certain that the presence or absence of a preceding vav has no effect on the usage of impf. in the middle of a clause.
It is not unnatural that in rapid and vigorous speech the vav might drop off when the verb stands at the head of a clause, particularly among other vav impf. forms, as Psalms 78:15, Psalms 78:26. Comp. Psalms 106:17 with Numbers 16:32; Numbers 26:10; Hosea 6:1, Proverbs 7:7. Cf. Psalms 18:11, Psalms 18:14, Psalms 18:16, Psalms 18:38-39, Psalms 18:44, with the same verses in 2 S. 22.
Rem. 6. In some cases vav impf. is pointed as simple vav, e.g. Isaiah 10:13 ‏וְאסיר‎, ‏וְאוריד‎, Isaiah 43:28 ‏וַֽאחלל‎, Isaiah 48:3; Isaiah 51:2;
Isaiah 57:17; Isaiah 63:3-5, Zechariah 8:10, Psalms 104:32; Psalms 107:26-29. In most of these cases the peculiarity belongs to the first pers. In some of them the vav has evidently conversive force, e.g. Isaiah 43:28; Isaiah 51:2; in others, e.g. Isaiah 10:13, it may be doubtful whether the impf. be not a graphic pres. or freq. There seems no doubt that according to the Massor. tradition the strong vav received in some instances a lighter pronunciation. On similar light vav with Juss. cf. § 65, R. 6.
Rem. 7. Strong vav is also used with Cohort. This form had no doubt originally a wider sense as an intensive. In some cases a certain force or liveliness may still appear in coh. with vav. conv., e.g. Genesis 41:11 ‏וַנַּֽחַלְמָה‎ and why! we dreamed, Genesis 32:6, Psalms 3:5; but often any additional emphasis is not to be detected, the form being partly rhythmical, 2 Samuel 22:24, or probably, since coh. and juss. make up a single tense-form, partly used as the natural parallel to the juss. forms of vav impf. The use of strong vav with coh. is sporadic. It is rare in the prophets, and most common in the personal narratives in Ezr., Neh., and Dan.