Program / Course 5: Biblical Languages / Lesson 2.3
What you will learn
- Describe the two main verb forms, the perfect and the imperfect, and the debate about what they express.
- Explain how the waw consecutive turns a form into a narrative sequence.
- List the seven stems and the general sense each adds to a root.
- See how verb forms bear on the translation of Exodus 3:14 and similar verses.
The big idea
Hebrew verbs are built on a root and shaped by a stem and by one of two main forms, traditionally called perfect and imperfect. These forms express the kind of action more than its time, though scholars debate how best to describe the difference. There are seven common stems that add senses such as intensive, causative, passive or reflexive. A small word, waw, can change the sense of a verb form in narrative. This lesson gives an outline only, and a reader needs far more study to handle the verbs in practice.
Key terms
- Perfect (qatal)
- A Hebrew verb form usually describing action seen as complete. It is often translated with a past tense.
- Imperfect (yiqtol)
- A Hebrew verb form usually describing action seen as incomplete or yet to come. It is often translated with a future or a present.
- Stem (binyan)
- A pattern applied to a root that changes its sense, as in simple, intensive, causative or passive. There are seven main ones.
- Waw consecutive
- A prefix, waw, attached to a verb form in narrative so that it carries on a sequence of events. It often reverses the usual sense of the form.
- Participle
- A verb form that acts like an adjective or noun, such as the one who keeps.
- Infinitive
- A verb form that names the action, as in to keep. Hebrew has two kinds, the absolute and the construct.
- Aspect
- The way an action is seen, as completed, ongoing or repeated, as opposed to when it happens.
Background
English verbs mostly mark time. A past, present or future tense tells when something happens. Hebrew verbs mainly mark how an action is seen. This is why one Hebrew verb form can be translated into English by several tenses. The translator decides from the context which English tense fits.
The verbs are the area of Hebrew grammar where the most debate occurs among scholars. The traditional account says that the perfect marks completed action and the imperfect marks incomplete action. More recent work has proposed other accounts, including ones that find a mixture of tense, aspect and mood. A beginner should expect to meet different descriptions in different books.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: The perfect and the imperfect
The two main forms are the perfect and the imperfect. In grammars they are often called by the forms of the verb to kill, qatal and yiqtol, since the pattern is the same for all regular verbs. The perfect is formed with endings added to the root, as in shamar, he kept. The imperfect is formed with prefixes, as in yishmor, he will keep or he keeps.
In general the perfect refers to an action seen as complete, usually in the past. The imperfect refers to an action seen as incomplete, which may be future, habitual or ongoing. These descriptions are not rules without exceptions. Prophets sometimes use the perfect to speak of future events as certain, and poetry uses the forms freely. A translator must read each case in context.
Step 2: The waw consecutive
Hebrew narrative commonly runs on a chain of verbs beginning with waw. Genesis 1:3 begins with an imperfect form, vayomer, and God said. The waw joined to an imperfect verb tells the story in sequence. Where the story uses the imperfect with this waw, it normally means a past event. Where it uses the perfect with waw, it can continue a future or habitual sequence.
Grammarians have long called this the waw consecutive or waw conversive. Many modern scholars describe it as a narrative form with its own function and not as a reversal of the tense. For a beginner the practical lesson is that a verb beginning with waw in a story is usually a past narrative verb, and that appearances can mislead.
Step 3: The seven stems
A root can be placed in a number of patterns, called stems or binyanim. The seven in common use are as follows. The Qal is the simple stem, as in qadash, to be holy. The Niphal is often passive or reflexive, as in to be sanctified. The Piel is often intensive or causative of a state, as in to sanctify. The Pual is the passive of the Piel. The Hiphil is usually causative, as in to cause to be holy or to dedicate. The Hophal is the passive of the Hiphil. The Hithpael is usually reflexive, as in to sanctify oneself.
These labels give a first guide, but the stems have exceptions and overlaps. A Piel verb is not always intensive, and a Niphal is not always passive. The lexicon entry for each root states the stems in which it appears and the meaning of each.
Step 4: Other forms
Beyond the perfect and imperfect, there are commands (imperatives), wishes (jussives and cohortatives), participles and infinitives. The participle describes someone who is doing the action, as in the keeper. The infinitive absolute, placed beside a finite verb of the same root, often adds emphasis, as in you shall surely die. A verb also carries person, number and gender, shown by prefixes and endings, so that one Hebrew word may translate an English verb with its subject.
Step 5: An example, Exodus 3:14
When Moses asks for God’s name, the answer in the King James Version is “I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:14). The Hebrew is ehyeh asher ehyeh. The verb is the imperfect of the root h, y, h, to be, in the first person. Because the imperfect can express present, future or an ongoing state, the phrase can be translated I am who I am, I will be who I will be, or I will be what I will be. Scholars and traditions disagree on which sense is best, and all three have been defended.
The Septuagint renders the phrase with a Greek form meaning I am the one who is, and this influenced later Christian thought. Jewish commentators have read the words as God’s promise to be present with his people. Footnotes in modern English Bibles often give the alternative translations. A beginner cannot settle the matter, but can see why it is open.
- Is the verb in my passage perfect, imperfect, participle, imperative or infinitive?
- Does it begin with waw, and if so, is the passage a narrative?
- In which stem does it stand, and does the lexicon give a distinct sense for that stem?
- How does my translation render the form, and does a footnote show another way?
- Am I assuming that the perfect always means the past?
- What would a specialist need to see to say that one rendering is best?
Examples
One root in several stems
The root q, d, sh gives qadash, to be holy, in the Qal stem. In the Piel it gives qiddesh, to sanctify. In the Hiphil it can give the sense of setting apart or dedicating, and in the Hithpael the sense of sanctifying oneself. Each of these forms appears in the Old Testament, and a lexicon lists their uses.
A narrative chain
Genesis 1 repeats the pattern and God said, and there was, and God saw. Each verb begins with waw and moves the story forward. An English reader sees the same effect in the repeated and. The Hebrew shows that the verbs belong to a single narrative sequence.
The perfect used for a future event
Prophets sometimes speak of an event that has not yet happened as though it were already complete. Isaiah 9:6 says a child is born, using a perfect verb, in a passage that looks ahead. English translations differ in whether they render this with a past, present or future tense, which shows how much depends on interpretation.
Different perspectives
Jewish
Jewish commentators such as Rashi and others read the verb forms closely, and the traditional reading of Exodus 3:14 emphasizes God’s presence with his people. Hebrew verbs are central to Jewish study and to the liturgy.
Catholic
Catholic theology has often read Exodus 3:14 in the light of the Septuagint and the Vulgate, with their sense of I am who am, and some thinkers, such as Thomas Aquinas, saw there a name of God as being itself. Other Catholic scholars today stress the Hebrew verb’s sense of presence.
Orthodox
Orthodox readers also read the Septuagint’s wording, I am the one who is, and see in it a revelation of God as the one who truly exists. The Greek wording is closely tied to Orthodox liturgy and theology.
Protestant
Protestant commentators vary. Some find in the Hebrew imperfect a sense of ongoing presence, while others accept the traditional I am. Many modern Protestant translations give both in text and footnote.
Scholarly
Linguists disagree about whether the Hebrew verb system is best described as aspect, tense or a mixture. The two main older positions and several newer ones are all in use.
Why it matters
The verb forms are among the most common sources of difference between English translations. A reader who knows that Hebrew verbs mark aspect more than time will understand why tenses differ, and will be wary of confident claims that a form means only one thing.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: The perfect is the past tense and the imperfect is the future tense.
Correction: These are helpful first approximations, but the forms mark kinds of action, and the translation into English tenses depends on context.
Misunderstanding: The waw always means and.
Correction: It often means and, but in narrative it is part of a verb form that continues a sequence, and elsewhere it can mean but, then or so.
Misunderstanding: A Piel verb is always intensive and a Niphal always passive.
Correction: Those are common senses, not rules. A lexicon entry gives the actual sense in each stem for each root.
Misunderstanding: Exodus 3:14 can only mean I am.
Correction: The Hebrew verb form permits I am, I will be and related renderings, and different communities have defended each.
Knowledge check
What are the two main Hebrew verb forms, and what do they usually express?
The perfect and the imperfect. The perfect usually describes an action seen as complete, often past. The imperfect describes an action seen as incomplete, which may be future, habitual or ongoing. These are broad descriptions, and context decides how the translator renders them in English.
What does the waw consecutive do?
In narrative, a waw joined to a verb continues a sequence of events. With an imperfect verb it usually gives a past narrative sense, as in and God said. Grammarians debate how best to explain the form, but it is the usual way of telling a story in Hebrew.
Name three of the seven stems and the general sense of each.
The Qal is the simple stem. The Niphal is often passive or reflexive. The Piel is often intensive. The Hiphil is usually causative. The Pual and Hophal are passives of the Piel and Hiphil, and the Hithpael is usually reflexive. Any three with their sense are correct.
Why does Exodus 3:14 allow more than one translation?
The Hebrew verb is an imperfect form of the verb to be. The imperfect can express present, future or an ongoing state, so the phrase can be rendered I am who I am or I will be who I will be. Translations often give one in the text and another in a footnote.
Think it through
- How might a language that marks aspect instead of time shape the way its speakers tell a story?
- Why might a translator be tempted to choose one tense and hide the alternatives?
- What is the value of reading translation footnotes on a verse like Exodus 3:14?
- How should a student respond when scholars give different accounts of the same grammar?
Independent assignment
Comparing renderings of a verb
In your own notebook, write 300 to 450 words. Take Exodus 3:14 and copy it from at least four English translations, including a footnote where one exists. Note the tense chosen in each. Then write a paragraph explaining in plain language why the Hebrew allows different tenses, using only what this lesson has taught, and a second paragraph stating what you cannot judge without reading Hebrew. Do not send this to anyone.
Further study
- Jewish Publication Society, The Hebrew Bible in English (JPS translation) Read Exodus 3:14 with the translators’ note.
- Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae See how Aquinas draws on Exodus 3:14 in the Summa’s treatment of the name of God.
- Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth See what a student should expect from translations of Old Testament narrative.
- Exodus 3:14 Compare translations.
- Genesis 1:3 The narrative waw in vayomer.
- Isaiah 9:6 A perfect verb in a prophecy.
- Genesis 2:17 The infinitive absolute in you shall surely die.