יַעֲבֹ֖דוּ (ya·‘ă·ḇō·ḏū) in Genesis 15:14: Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
יַעֲבֹ֖דוּ (ya·‘ă·ḇō·ḏū) in Genesis 15:14
Source Word
The BSB+ row for Genesis 15:14 links the English rendering "they serve as slaves" with יַעֲבֹ֖דוּ, Strong's H5647, and the morphology label V-Qal-Imperf-3mp.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form helps readers follow the sequence: bondage is named before judgment and departure are promised.
How To Communicate It
In explanation of Genesis 15:14, use this form to keep the service-as-slaves statement inside the Lord's larger covenant disclosure.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not treat the Hebrew imperfect as a simple English future in every passage.
- Do not use the Qal stem by itself to settle a theological claim.
- Do not turn this occurrence into a complete word study for the whole lemma.
- Let the surrounding clause decide whether the form is question, promise, assurance, or narrative expectation.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-verb
Verb
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Qal
Imperfect
Third person
Masculine
Plural
The imperfect form presents the action as unfolding, expected, or desired in context; Genesis 15:14 determines how that force is heard.
This form carries the BSB rendering "they serve as slaves" within Genesis 15:14. 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 affliction preview in Genesis 15:14, describing the nation Abram's descendants will serve
The Hebrew imperfect form within the clause and speaker setting
It states the service or bondage that precedes judgment and departure in the covenant disclosure.
It does not make the Hebrew imperfect a simple English future in every context or settle the passage theology by itself.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The form carries a sensitive affliction statement in the Lord's covenant disclosure.
Qal imperfect third masculine plural in a future affliction statement. states the service or bondage in the covenant preview. Attached to the affliction preview in Genesis 15:14, describing the nation Abram's descendants will serve. Governed by the clause, speaker setting, and covenant-promise context. The imperfect should be interpreted from the sentence movement, not flattened into one English tense value.
What hardship is named before the promised departure? Abram's descendants will serve as slaves before the Lord judges that nation.
Direct: The imperfect directly supports the rendering "they serve as slaves" in this occurrence.
Hebrew imperfect forms can express future, modal, expected, or context-shaped action. The clause determines whether the form is heard as question, assurance, promise, or expectation. The Qal stem identifies the form but does not carry the full theological claim.
Hebrew imperfect always means simple future: The imperfect is shaped by clause context and should not be flattened into one English tense. Qal means the claim is simple: Qal identifies the stem; the covenant context carries the theological weight. grammar alone proves covenant doctrine: The form supports the clause; the passage and canon govern larger doctrine.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The BSB+ row for Genesis 15:14 links the English rendering "they serve as slaves" with יַעֲבֹ֖דוּ, Strong's H5647, and the morphology label V-Qal-Imperf-3mp.
H5647 is represented here by the lemma עָבַד. In this occurrence, the public guide is limited to the BSB rendering "they serve as slaves" rather than every possible gloss of the entry.
The imperfect is part of the Lord's future-oriented preview and should be read with the judgment and departure clauses that follow.
Genesis 15 anchors God's covenant promise to Abram, moving from promise and faith to assurance and covenant sign.
The form fits Scripture's covenant pattern in which God speaks, promises, judges, gives, and keeps his word.
When teaching Genesis 15:14, use this form to keep the service-as-slaves statement inside the Lord's larger covenant disclosure.
Do not derive a full theology of slavery, affliction, or exodus from V-Qal-Imperf-3mp alone. The form marks one clause in the covenant preview.