The consecutive imperfect

How a Hebrew story moves

After Genesis 1:1 tells us that God created the heavens and the earth, the story begins to move step by step from verse 3.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Genesis 1:3

Three verbs are doing different jobs here. The first word, וַיֹּאמֶר ("vaiyomer"), means "and he said" (the verb אָמַר, "say", occurs more than 5,300 times), and the fifth, וַיְהִי ("vayhi"), means "and there was". Both begin with וַ. The word between them, יְהִי ("yehi", "let there be"), is a wish rather than a story verb, and we will meet it in the lesson after next. Today we follow the verbs that begin with וַ.

The narrative parts of the Hebrew Bible move forward on a chain of these verbs: he said, he saw, he separated, he called. Scholars call the form the wayyiqtol. In this course we use the app's label, consecutive imperfect.

How to spot it

A consecutive imperfect looks like an imperfect with two additions. First, וַ ("va", with a patach vowel) stands at the front. Second, the prefix letter that follows usually carries a dagesh, the dot that doubles the letter. Sometimes no dot is visible: a י with shewa often drops it, as in וַיְהִי, and א, a throat letter, cannot take it, so the וַ lengthens to וָ instead, as in וָאֹכֵל ("va'okhel", "and I ate", Genesis 3:12). What you train your eye for is the pair וַ (or וָ) + prefix.

The panel labels such a word "conjunction, consecutive … consecutive imperfect". When you see that, read "and then he did…". The prefixes are the same as for the plain imperfect: י for "he", א for "I".

Why is an "imperfect" translated as past?

The name and the translation seem to disagree, and it is fair to find that odd. Scholars explain the history of this form in different ways, and we will not settle that debate here. A rule of thumb for the reader is: וַ + prefix, in a story, is usually translated as a past tense. Trust the pattern over the name. "Consecutive" reminds you that the action follows on from the one before it.

One more habit of Hebrew stories: they often open with a perfect and then continue with consecutive imperfects. In Genesis 1:1 the verb בָּרָא ("bara", "he created") is a perfect, and from verse 3 the chain of consecutive imperfects follows. When a perfect appears in the middle of a story, the flow has often paused for a comment or contrast.

Reading Genesis 1:3-5

God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:4

The first word, וַיַּרְא, is the consecutive imperfect of "see" (רָאָה), a verb found about 1,200 times in the Old Testament. God saw; that is the next event. Then וַיַּבְדֵּל tells us "he separated". (The panel labels טוֹב, "good", in this verse as a verb; it is usually read as the adjective "good".)

God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day.

Genesis 1:5

וַיִּקְרָא is the consecutive imperfect of "call" (קָרָא, here meaning to call something by a name). Notice that the second "he called", קָרָא, is a perfect. The וַ of a consecutive imperfect must sit on a verb at the head of its clause; here "and the darkness" (וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ) comes first, so the verb follows as a plain perfect. It is the same verb in a different shape because of word order.

The most common consecutive imperfect of all is וַיְהִי ("vayhi"), from "be" or "become". It occurs twice in verse 5, as וַיְהִי and וַיְהִי. Older English renders it "and it came to pass" or "and it was so"; it often marks that the story has stepped forward.

Finally, a verb of coming. In the flood story, וַיָּבֹא ("vaiyavo") means "and he went in", as Noah enters the ark. The verb בּוֹא occurs more than 1,900 times.

Summary

You recognise a consecutive imperfect by וַ + prefix, with a doubling dagesh where it can appear. The panel says "consecutive imperfect", and in a story it usually means "and he did…" in the past. Stories often begin with a perfect and then run on a chain of consecutive imperfects. Today's words are say אָמַר, see רָאָה, call קָרָא and come בּוֹא. In the next lesson we meet the mirror image, the consecutive perfect.

Words in this lesson

• אָמַרamarto say5,306 times in the OT
• רָאָהraahto see: see1,197 times in the OT
• קָרָאqarato call: call by223 times in the OT
• בּוֹאboto come (in): come1,930 times in the OT

Practice