Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

Cees van Veelen (not being familiar with your language, I'd be 
interested in knowing how to pronounce your name),
> I try to understand the discussions on the list about the difference
> between WAYYIQTOL and QATAL and to see what effect diffent views have
> on the translation.
> Now I came to Gensis 1:5:
> And he called (WAYYIQTOL) God (subject) the light Day, and the darkness
> He called (QATAL) night. (I kept the word order, to show the chiastic
> structure).
> This structure is found again in verse 10.
> Now I don't see any difference in tense or aspect between WAYYIQTOL or
> QATAL in these examples. 
> The two grammars I have (Jouon and Schneider) don't give a convincing
> answer. Jouon writes that hebrew liks to shift from WAYYIQTOL to QATAL
> just because the same verb is repeated, Schneider writes this
> construction is used to mark the end of a narrative part.
> How is this construction to be evaluated? The only thing I can imagine
> is that the chiastic word order and the shift from WAYYIQTOL to QATAL
> is to create (or emphasize) a contrast: God called the light Day, _but_
> the darkness He called Night.

Yes!  And this is precisely what my approach to the verb forms 
predicts.  There's a syntactic connection in the use of the qatal, 
one of contrast enhanced by the chiastic structure (though on 
chiasmus in general, I tend to follow F. I. Andersen's view that 
chiasmus draws the two clauses together into a single 
semantic/pragmatic unit and tighten their association with each 
other - see the relevant sections in his "Sentence in Biblical 
Hebrew").  The wayyiqtol signals a syntactically independent 
thought that is not dependent or otherwise syntactically connected 
with the preceding clause, and the qatal signals a syntactic 
connection with the preceding clause - in this case, contrast.  
Excellent observation, and since I haven't seen your name in a post 
before, welcome!


Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name.
                                   Psalm 86:11