1.

The qal weqaVal 181

Vocabulary
official; eunuch (p) -'2'
– :– 2š ,2':– 2š ← L2':– 2’
go (command) T+—
and take (qal weqaHal 2ms √ %9+)* kš %’ 9™ +š ’#
and go down (qal weqaHal 2ms √ :')* kš ’ :™ š' ’#
and choose (qal weqaHal 2ms √ :%C)* kš :’ %™ Kš
and give (qal weqaHal 2ms √ 0=1)* kš =™ š1 ’#
hole :œ%
wall !/L%
š ← =/L% ™
qal wayyiqHol 3ms √ #f ‘return’ fš QšŒ ™#
(see Unit 39)
what does . . . have to do with me?    +K
’ 'X¡!
– /™
(lit.: what is to me and to . . .)†
army (p) =L ,š 8š ← š 8’
standing /œ— 3
qal yiqHol 3ms √ 7:a ‘break through’ 7œ :6’ –'
and will plunder (qal weqaHal 3ms √ $$C)* $ ™$K
š
plundered $K$Cš ← ! š$K$C’
* See Grammar point 1.
†
See Grammar point 2.

Grammar points
1. The qal weqaVal

We’ve already encountered three major Biblical Hebrew conjugations, namely the
qaHal (used in certain contexts for conveying preterite, pluperfect, present perfect, and
present or future actions), the yiqHol (used for conveying future, modal, and habitual
actions, as well as commands) and the wayyiqHol (used primarily for sequences of
past actions). In addition, there’s a fourth conjugation called the weqaHal, which
you encountered in the story above. As its name suggests, the weqaHal is composed
of the waw-consecutive prefixed to the qaHal. In some grammars it’s called the waw-
consecutive + suffix conjugation or waw-consecutive + perfect. The weqaHal looks in
182 Unit Nineteen

many ways like the mirror-image of the wayyiqHol: although it resembles the qaHal in
form, it’s used in the same ways as the yiqHol, namely to convey sequences of future,
habitual, and modal actions as well as commands. However, unlike the wayyiqHol, the
weqaHal doesn’t generally begin a new sequence; rather, it typically follows on from a
yiqHol, an imperative (a verbal form used for commands, which we’ll study in Unit 21),
or sometimes an active participle (which we’ll study in Unit 20). Let’s first look at how
the weqaHal is formed, and then we’ll examine its uses in more depth.

A. Forming the weqaval 396 See Reference grammar A6 for summary

The weqaHal is very easy to form; it consists of waw prefixed to the qaHal. The most
important thing to remember is that, unlike the wayyiqHol, the waw used in the weqaHal has
the same form as the conjunction waw: i.e., it’s pointed exactly like the conjunction waw
and doesn’t cause doubling of the following consonant. Therefore, when pointing a weqaHal
you must use the same rules that you learned for the conjunction waw (see Unit 4, Grammar
point 1 for details). These rules are repeated below with examples of weqaHals:

i. ’#
default: , e.g. %9™ +š ’#
‘and he will take’
ii. before a ‘BUMP’ letter or any consonant pointed with vocal shewa: , e.g. K $ ™$K
š
‘and it will plunder’; -k˜ %’ 9™ +K
’
‘and you (mp) will take’
iii. before a guttural pointed with FaHef pataF: , e.g. ™# -k˜ :’ /™ ” ™#
‘and you (mp)
will say’
' –# '
iv. before pointed with vocal shewa: , and quiesces, e.g. -k˜ 4’ '™ –#
‘and you (mp)
will know’.

There’s one other small point to note: in the 2ms and 1cs weqaHal, the stress often shifts
to the end of the word, e.g. kš %’ 9™ +š ’# kš :’ %™ K
, , š 'k– %’ 9™ +š ’# 'k– :’ %™ K
, š
, etc. The shift
in stress doesn’t cause any other pointing changes. This practice isn’t totally consistent
in the Hebrew Bible, but is very common and can help you to identify weqaHals.

B. Use of the weqaval 405 See Reference grammar B4 for summary

As mentioned above, the weqaHal, like the wayyiqHol, is used for conveying sequences
of actions. However, as it’s usually used in future settings, it’s most commonly found
in direct speech rather than in narrative. Following are the most typical contexts in
which it appears:

i. Future actions
The weqaHal is most commonly found in direct speech, conveying future actions follow-
ing an initial yiqHol. While there’s only one weqaHal in the following example, such
a sequence could theoretically continue with one or more additional weqaHals:
 1. The qal weqat. al 183

:'4– !¡=
š ˜ $ ™$K
š !/L%
š !¡=
™ ˜ 7œ :6’ –' L/
š š 8’
‘The army of Moab will break through the wall and plunder the city!’

ii. Commands
The weqaHal also frequently appears in direct speech conveying commands following
an initial imperative (see Unit 21, Grammar point 1b):

:f˜ ” V™ -']– 4™ &’ /™ ’ kš :’ %™ K

š !:'š 4– Œ !š kš ’ :™ š' ’# '2K2¡=
– ˜ kš %’ 9™ +š ’# T+—
'+– kš =™ š1 ’# 'k– ’ !™Œ š
‘Go and take my horse and go down to the city and choose delicacies such as
I love and give [them] to me.’

iii. Habitual actions

Like the yiqHol, the weqaHal can be used to convey habitual actions in the past, present,
or future. In such cases it typically follows an initial yiqHol. It may appear in narrative,
in which case it has a past habitual sense, as in the following example:

:'4– !¡=
š ˜ $ ™$K
š !/L%
š !¡=
™ ˜ L/
š š 8’ 7œ :6’ –' ! š1f¡+
š Vš
Every year the army of Moab used to break through the wall and plunder the city.

iv. Modalities
Like the yiqHol, the weqaHal can be used to convey various modalities (e.g. must, should,
can, etc.). It typically follows an initial yiqHol, e.g.:

:'4– !¡=
š ˜ 'k– ’$ ™$K
š !/L%
š !¡=
™ ˜ 7œ :6’ ˜ L/
š T+˜ /˜Œ :/
˜ œ QŒ ™#
The king of Moab said, ‘I must break through the wall and plunder the city.’

Now that you’ve met the weqaHal, you may be wondering how to tell the difference
between this form and a simple qaHal (i.e. with preterite, pluperfect, or present perfect
meaning) that happens to be prefixed by the conjunction waw. In fact, it’s quite rare
in the Hebrew Bible to find a qaHal prefixed by the conjunction waw; although such
forms do appear occasionally (e.g. !gš 4š ’#
‘and he had made’ in Genesis 37:3), they’re
exceptional. This is because, as you know, sequences of preterite actions in Biblical
Hebrew are typically conveyed by the wayyiqHol. Thus in the vast majority of cases a
qaHal form prefixed by waw is actually a weqaHal and has future, command, habitual,
or modal meaning. Therefore, when reading the Hebrew Bible you should remember
that if you see a qaHal prefixed by waw, it’s most likely a weqaHal and should be trans-
lated as such.
184 Unit Nineteen

Note that the initial yiqHol or imperative and any subsequent weqaHals need not have
the same subject, e.g.:

-k˜ =™ š1K -']– 4™ &’ /™ C’ -k˜ :’ %™ K

’ !:'š 4– Œ !š -k˜ ’ :'™ –# 2':– _š !¡=
™ ˜ T+—
'k– %’ /™ gš ’# '+–
‘Go (2ms) with the official, and go down (2mp) to the city, and choose (2mp)
delicacies such as I like, and give (2mp) [them] to me, and I (1cs) shall rejoice.’

Note that just like the wayyiqHol, the weqaHal can’t be negated. Instead, a yiqHol must
be used, interrupting the weqaHal chain (which can then be resumed later). Also like
the wayyiqHol, the weqaHal always precedes its subject.
Finally, note that just as the wayyiqHol '!– ’' ™#
is used to introduce temporal clauses
in past narrative contexts (see Unit 8, Grammar point 2), its weqaHal parallel ! š'!š ’#
is
used to introduce temporal clauses in future settings. Like its past counterpart, it has no
direct English equivalent; therefore it may be left untranslated, though it has tradition-
ally been rendered into English as ‘and it will come to pass’. Here’s an example:

!/L%
š !¡=
™ ˜ 7œ :6’ –' L/
š š 8’ :f˜ ” V™ ! š'!š ’# 2':– _š !™ :/
˜ œ QŒ ™#
:'4– !¡=
š ˜ $ ™$K
š
And the official said, ‘When the army of Moab breaks through the wall,
it will plunder the city.’

2. Pointing of !/š ‘what’

The pointing of the word !/š
may take one of several different forms depending on
the first consonant of the following word. Below are general guidelines (note that these
rules aren’t completely consistently applied, and you’ll see exceptions to them in the
Hebrew Bible).

A. Patat + doubling
The default pointing is ¡!/™ (with maqqef ) followed by strong dagesh in the follow-
ing consonant, e.g. 'X¡!
– /™ . This dagesh is called conjunctive and is discussed in
Grammar point 3 below.

B. Qameu
Before , !, and : it’s usually pointed with qameG (with or without maqqef ), e.g.
! ˜O!™ :š Gš !¡!
™ /š ‘What is this thing?’ (2 Samuel 12:21).