Biblical Hebrew Forum

["JAMES CHRISTIAN READ" <JCR128 AT student.apu.ac.uk>]

HH: I have always read the "was" in this verse as expressing the passing 
of time or happening of an event. This is an acceptable use of the 
English word. Somebody describing an evening at a friend's house might 
say, "We talked for an hour in the living room, then there was dinner. 
Later we watched T.V." Saying "there was dinner" means that dinner 
happened or the time of dinner passed.

JCR: Yeah. I can see what you mean with the dinner 
example. That works in everyday English. But I don't 
think I've ever heard morning or evening used in such 
a way e.g. 'I worked all day and then there was evening'
 just doesn't seem to sound right but I see what you 
are saying by understanding the time passing.

Just out of interest do you see morning and evening as 
subjects of wayhiy or as objects? They seem to me to 
be subjects with the sense of 'And then night fell and 
then morning arose' or 'and then the night came and 
then the morning came' or something like that? What do 
you think?

James C. Read
UK