Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Joe Sprinkle" <jsprinkl AT tfc.edu>]

I have not read all previous discussion on this thread on the meaning of
HAYAH as "become" but I would point out one point that seems germaine.

In many of the clearest examples where HAYAH must be rendered "became," it
is not HAYAH alone that has that meaning, but HAYAH in combination with
Preposition LE.  Thus Genesis 2:7 "man became a living being" is a form of
HAYAH + LE + NEPHESH.  Similarly in Genesis 2:10 where the river "became
four riviers" it is a form of HAYAH + LE atteached to "four rivers." Also
Genesis 20:12 and 24:67 "She became my wife" there is a Lamed attached to
the word for wife.

Some examples where translations render HAYAH alone without the Lamed as
"become" could equally well be rendered "was" as when Esau became a
hunter(Gen 25:27) could be rendered simply that he "was" one.

It seems to me that this Lamed (the Lamed of product) helps to make
clearer that the meaning is that something "becomes" something else, and
that without it (as in Genesis 1:2), it does not as easily convey that
sense.  I must admit it can do so sometimes on context alone, as at
Genesis 19:26 where Lot's wife "became" a pillar of salt, the LE is
lacking. Nevertheless, if VE HAYETAH really intended to express overtly
the notion "became" in Genesis 1:2, it would have been nice for there to
have been a LE attached to TOHU VE BOHU to make that meaning more
explicit. The lack of it is an argument that it simply means "was" in this
context.

Joe Sprinkle