וַיַּפִּ֙לוּ֙ (way·yap·pi·lū) in Jonah 1:7: Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
וַיַּפִּ֙לוּ֙ (way·yap·pi·lū) in Jonah 1:7
Source Word
The BSB+ row for Jonah 1:7 links the English rendering "So they cast" with וַיַּפִּ֙לוּ֙, Strong's H5307, and the parsing label Conj-w | V-Hifil-ConsecImperf-3mp.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form completes the proposal-action movement: the sailors actually cast the lots, and the scene moves toward Jonah being identified.
How To Communicate It
Use this form to show how Hebrew narrative sequence reports the action after the group proposal.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not make the imperfect label prove more than the sentence supports.
- Do not use the stem label by itself to settle a theological claim.
- Do not treat this occurrence as a complete word study for the whole Hebrew lemma.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-verb
Verb
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Conjunctive waw
Hifil
Consecutive imperfect
Third person
Masculine
Plural
The consecutive imperfect form participates in the verse's movement; Jonah 1:7 determines whether the reader should hear sequence, result, or narrative progress.
This form carries the BSB rendering "So they cast" within Jonah 1:7. Jonah 1 follows the prophet's flight, the storm at sea, and the sailors' growing fear as disobedience is exposed.
What The Form Does In This Verse
The action or phrase rendered "So they cast" in Jonah 1:7
The form is governed by the narrative report that the sailors carried out the lot-casting proposal.
It reports the sailors casting the lots, moving from proposal to action.
The form does not by itself settle every use of H5307, every possible translation, or the whole doctrine connected to this passage.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The form reports the sailors carrying out the lot-casting action that identifies Jonah.
Waw-consecutive Hifil imperfect marking group action. moves from proposal to performed action. Attached to the so they cast lots action. Governed by the lot-casting narrative sequence. The form advances the scene; the lot result, not the stem alone, identifies Jonah.
What do the sailors do after proposing lots? They cast the lots.
Direct: The form directly supports so they cast.
The Hifil stem fits the casting action but does not by itself explain divine providence. Waw-consecutive advances the narrative from speech to action.
Verb stem alone explains providence: The form reports the action; the narrative result and broader theology must interpret providence.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The BSB+ row for Jonah 1:7 links the English rendering "So they cast" with וַיַּפִּ֙לוּ֙, Strong's H5307, and the parsing label Conj-w | V-Hifil-ConsecImperf-3mp.
H5307 is represented here by the lemma נָפַל. In this occurrence, the public guide is limited to the BSB rendering "So they cast" rather than every possible gloss of the entry.
The consecutive imperfect moves the narrative from proposal to carried-out action, and the plural subject marks the sailors acting together.
Jonah 1 follows the prophet's flight, the storm at sea, and the sailors' growing fear as disobedience is exposed.
The form fits Scripture's witness to mercy, repentance, prophetic obedience, and God's compassion for the nations.
When teaching Jonah 1:7, show how the narrative repeats the root to move from let us cast to so they cast.
Do not turn the Hifil form into a full doctrine of lots. The narrative event and its result carry the claim.