הוֹלֵ֣ךְ (hō·w·lêḵ) in Genesis 15:2: Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
הוֹלֵ֣ךְ (hō·w·lêḵ) in Genesis 15:2
Source Word
The BSB+ row for Genesis 15:2 links the English rendering "remain" with הוֹלֵ֣ךְ, Strong's H1980, and the parsing label V-Qal-Prtcpl-ms.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form helps readers hear Abram speaking from his present unresolved condition before the Lord.
How To Communicate It
When teaching Genesis 15:2, use the participle to show Abram speaking from his present condition, while the promise context carries the inheritance question.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not use the participle alone to prove an ongoing state beyond what the clause and passage support.
- Do not treat Qal as if it always means simple action in an interpretive sense.
- Do not turn this occurrence into a full word study for H1980.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-verb
Verb
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Qal
Participle
Not marked
Masculine
Singular
The participle describes the actor or action in the sentence, giving the line a concrete, ongoing, or characteristic force in context.
This form carries the BSB rendering "remain" within Genesis 15:2. Genesis 15 anchors God's covenant promise to Abram, moving from promise and faith to assurance and covenant sign.
What The Form Does In This Verse
The phrase rendered "remain childless" in Genesis 15:2
The participle stands inside Abram's complaint before the inheritance question, and the surrounding words supply the childless condition.
It functions descriptively, not as a new command, helping portray Abram's unresolved situation before the Lord.
The form does not by itself settle every use of H1980, every possible translation, or the whole promise-and-inheritance theology of Genesis 15.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The participle helps portray Abram's present condition in his complaint, but the promise context carries the larger interpretation.
Participial description in a complaint. describes Abram as remaining or going childless in the present situation. Attached to Abram's self-description in Genesis 15:2. Governed by the complaint and inheritance question in Genesis 15:2. The participle should be read with the surrounding words that identify the childless condition.
How does Abram describe his condition? He describes himself as remaining childless within his complaint before the Lord.
Supporting: The participle supports the English wording remain childless, though the surrounding phrase supplies the childless sense.
The form can be connected with going or remaining language, so the surrounding phrase must govern the explanation. The participle portrays the clause-level situation but does not carry the whole promise context by itself.
Participle proves a continuing state beyond context: The participle supports the present description in the verse, while the passage supplies the broader promise context. Qal means simple: Qal names the stem label; context determines what the form contributes in the sentence.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The BSB+ row for Genesis 15:2 links the English rendering "remain" with הוֹלֵ֣ךְ, Strong's H1980, and the parsing label V-Qal-Prtcpl-ms.
H1980 is represented here by the lemma הָלַךְ. In this occurrence, the public guide is limited to the BSB rendering "remain" rather than every possible gloss of the entry.
The Qal masculine singular participle functions descriptively in Abram's speech, presenting his present condition or path as he speaks of remaining childless.
The form helps the reader hear Abram's concern as his current childless situation in tension with the promise context.
The form fits Scripture's covenant pattern in which God speaks, promises, judges, gives, and keeps his word.
When teaching Genesis 15:2, use the participle to show Abram speaking from his present condition, while the promise context carries the inheritance question.
Do not derive the whole theology of promise, inheritance, or childlessness from the participle alone. The form supports Abram's complaint within the sentence.