וַֽיְהִי־ (way·hî-) in Genesis 1:13: Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
וַֽיְהִי־ (way·hî-) in Genesis 1:13
Source Word
At Genesis 1:13, the source token וַֽיְהִי־ is H1961, Conj-w | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3ms. The BSB+ word table row therefore anchors this guide.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
And there was preserves the waw connection and the eventive movement of the Hebrew narrative form. The refrain marks the ordered completion of the third day after God gathers the waters and commands the earth to produce vegetation.
How To Communicate It
Let and there was signal narrative progression, then connect the repeated refrain to the completed work of the third day.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Do not use the consecutive-imperfect morphology alone to settle the length or scientific mechanics of the creation days.
- The form can be described as wayyiqtol or consecutive imperfect; either label should explain narrative succession rather than import an English tense system.
- Read and there was within Genesis 1:13 as this H1961 occurrence; broader theology requires the passage.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-verb
Verb
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Qal
ConsecImperf
Third
Masculine
Singular
Not applicable
Conjunction w
None
The consecutive-imperfect participates in Hebrew narrative sequence, presenting the evening as the next event in the day-closing refrain.
The third masculine singular Qal consecutive-imperfect form carries the narrative forward with evening as the clause subject.
What The Form Does In This Verse
The evening and morning sequence that closes the third creation day
The narrative refrain following the appearance of land and vegetation
The waw-consecutive verb advances the account to the arrival of evening before the matching morning clause.
This occurrence does not describe a new created object or explain the physical mechanism by which evening began.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The refrain marks the ordered completion of the third day after God gathers the waters and commands the earth to produce vegetation.
The third masculine singular Qal consecutive-imperfect form carries the narrative forward with evening as the clause subject.. The waw-consecutive verb advances the account to the arrival of evening before the matching morning clause.. Attached to the evening and morning sequence that closes the third creation day. Governed by the narrative refrain following the appearance of land and vegetation. This occurrence does not describe a new created object or explain the physical mechanism by which evening began.
What work does and there was perform at the close of the third day? It moves the narrative into the evening-morning refrain that marks this stage of creation as complete.
Direct: And there was preserves the waw connection and the eventive movement of the Hebrew narrative form.
The form can be described as wayyiqtol or consecutive imperfect; either label should explain narrative succession rather than import an English tense system. The repeated refrain marks literary sequence, while broader questions about day length require evidence beyond this verb.
Wayyiqtol proves a scientific timetable: Narrative succession organizes the account; morphology alone does not determine the physical duration of each day. same verb means identical event: The refrain repeats structurally, but each occurrence closes a different stage of the creation account.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
At Genesis 1:13, the source token וַֽיְהִי־ is H1961, Conj-w | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3ms. The BSB+ word table row therefore anchors this guide.
הָיָה is the lemma behind and there was here. Within Genesis 1:13, H1961 retains this exact lexical identity.
The third masculine singular Qal consecutive-imperfect form carries the narrative forward with evening as the clause subject.
The refrain marks the ordered completion of the third day after God gathers the waters and commands the earth to produce vegetation.
Creation unfolds under God's ordered speech, but this recurring verb is a narrative hinge rather than an independent chronology formula.
Let and there was signal narrative progression, then connect the repeated refrain to the completed work of the third day.
Do not use the consecutive-imperfect morphology alone to settle the length or scientific mechanics of the creation days.