Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <george.athas AT moore.edu.au>]

I suspect that Leupold is implying Abram believed what God had just told
him, and every thing else God told him *from then on*. In other words, he's
suggesting that it is forward looking, rather than backward looking. I guess
you could class that as an inceptive use.
 
The reason I suspect that is that the WEQATAL (waw + Perfect) used to be
pigeon-holed as referring to the future, understanding the waw as inverting
the tense of the Perfect. However, this is an inadequate view of the
WEQATAL, and Hebrew grammar has moved on to better understandings of it. As
such, I believe Leupold's analysis is faulty.
 
The WEQATAL form simply maintains focus on the current point/issue, by
provising an action which adjunct to the main clause. The tense and mood of
the WEQATAL has to be inferred from context, rather than being inherent in
the verb itself. As such, I take it that the focus in Gen 15.6 is
specifically on what God had just told Abram, and without moving to a new
focus we are told that Abram believed God. In other words, Abram's belief is
couched as an adjunct action to God's speech at the very end of 15.5.
 

Best Regards,

GEORGE ATHAS
Moore Theological College
1 King St, Newtown 2042, Australia
Ph: (+61 2) 9577 9774