Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>]

Yes, Galia's term modus irrealis captures the sense of the Yiqtol well for 
the most part. I'm not sure it's the best term for understanding the habitual 
past action that the Yiqtol can often convey, but it is a very good term, 
nonetheless.

I wouldn't equate the Weqatal with this, however. Weqatal is simply a 
continuation or adjunct verb, much like the participle in Greek. In my 
opinion it's actually just a Qatal with a plain conjunction on the front. The 
conjunction does something important syntactically, but the verb as a whole 
does not, in my estimation, convey modus irrealis. If it does, the Qatal 
itself must also convey modus irrealis. But it doesn't.


GEORGE ATHAS
Director of Postgraduate Studies,
Moore Theological College (moore.edu.au)
Sydney, Australia