Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

The 'waw conversive' which switches tenses is losing favour among many
grammarians. It's an odd concept, the form of which grammarians are finding
other explanations for. FWIW, my explanation: The WEQATAL form (we +
perfect) has no tense of its own, but rather derives its nuance from the
previous clause/verb, which the waw connects it to. It sustains the focus at
the same point indicated by the previous non-WEQATAL form -- that is, it
does not move to a new thought.
 

Best Regards, 

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


-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Gary Hedrick
Sent: Thursday, 5 October 2006 1:09 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Past Tense in Ex. 12:13
Importance: Low


        What I'm curious about, of course, is the fact that he uses past
tense verbs to describe events that are yet in the future.  Instead of "When
I see the blood, I will pass over you," as per our English translations, in
the Hebrew it's literally, "When I saw the blood, I passed over you."

Gary

||||||||||||||||||||||||
EARLIER POST:

            What is the significance of the past tense verbs in Ex. 12:13
("When I saw the blood, I passed over you")?

Gary Hedrick
San Antonio, Texas USA
garyh AT cjfm.org 

||||||||||||||||||||||||


_______________________________________________
b-hebrew mailing list
b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew