Waw-consecutive - Consecutive Verb Syntax

Consecutive Verb Syntax

Used with verbs, the prefix has a double function. It is still conjunctive, but also has the effect of altering the tense and aspect of the verb. Weingreen gives the following example. If we consider two simple past narrative statements, we expect to find them in the perfect tense:

• šāmar hammeleḵ eṯ dəḇar YHWH

  שָׁמַר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת דְּבַר יהוה

  The king kept the word of the LORD

• šāp̄aṭ eṯ haʿam bəṣeḏeq

  שָׁפַט אֶת הָעָם בְּצֶדֶק

  He judged the people in righteousness.

Šāmar ('kept') and šāp̄aṭ ('judged') are simple perfect qal forms, and in fact they are the citation forms of these verbs. If however these two sentences are not separate but in one continuous narrative then only the first verb is in the perfect, whereas the following verb ('and he judged') is in the imperfect (yišpôṭ) with a prefixed waw:

• šāmar hammeleḵ eṯ dəḇar YHWH wayyišpôṭ eṯ-haʿam bəṣeḏeq

  שָׁמַר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת דְּבַר יהוה וַיִּשְׁפּוֹט אֶת הַעַם בְּצֶדֶק

  The king kept the word of the LORD and he judged the people in righteousness.

Conversely, in a continuous narrative referring to the future, the narrative tense will be the imperfect, but this becomes a perfect after the conjunction:

• yišmôr hammeleḵ eṯ dəḇar YHWH wəšāp̄aṭ eṯ-haʿam bəṣeḏeq

יִשְׁמוֹר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת דְּבַר יהוה וְשָׁפַט אֶת הַעַם בְּצֶדֶק

The king will keep the word of the LORD and he will judge the people in righteousness.