יִקָּו֨וּ (yiq·qā·wū) in Genesis 1:9: Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural

Hebrew-verb

Verb

Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural

Nifal

Imperf

Third

Masculine

Plural

Not applicable

None

The imperfect receives command-like force from God's speech and points to the gathering that is to occur.

Nifal profiles the waters as the affected subject, while third masculine plural agreement follows the plural noun waters.

The plural waters under the sky as the subject moved into one place

God's third-day command that separates the waters so dry land may appear

The Nifal imperfect presents the plural waters as undergoing the gathering commanded in God's speech.

Passive morphology does not identify a natural mechanism, and the plural ending does not imply several unrelated acts of creation.

Moderate: God orders the waters beneath the sky into one place so dry ground becomes visible, and the narrative immediately reports fulfillment.

Nifal profiles the waters as the affected subject, while third masculine plural agreement follows the plural noun waters.. The Nifal imperfect presents the plural waters as undergoing the gathering commanded in God's speech.. Attached to the plural waters under the sky as the subject moved into one place. Governed by God's third-day command that separates the waters so dry land may appear. Passive morphology does not identify a natural mechanism, and the plural ending does not imply several unrelated acts of creation.

What does the Nifal form show about the waters in Genesis 1:9? It presents the plural waters as those being gathered in response to God's command rather than as the named agent of the action.

Direct: Let the waters be gathered expresses both the passive subject role and the directive force supplied by the divine speech.

Nifal can carry passive or middle force; the command and plural waters favor an affected-subject reading here. The imperfect participates in a directive construction, so a simple future translation would miss the speech setting.

Passive form explains physical mechanism: Voice shows that the waters undergo gathering but does not describe the material process. imperfect means uncertain outcome: The form expresses the commanded event, and the narrative's fulfillment formula confirms the result. morphology replaces literary context: The H6960 form clarifies the be gathered relation in Genesis 1:9; the surrounding passage establishes its scope.

At Genesis 1:9, the Genesis 1:9 source token יִקָּו֨וּ is H6960, V-Nifal-Imperf-3mp. The H6960 Genesis 1:9 BSB+ word table row therefore anchors this guide.

קָוָה is the lemma behind be gathered here. Within Genesis 1:9, H6960 retains this exact lexical identity.

Nifal profiles the waters as the affected subject, while third masculine plural agreement follows the plural noun waters.

God orders the waters beneath the sky into one place so dry ground becomes visible, and the narrative immediately reports fulfillment.

The scene portrays creation becoming ordered and habitable through God's effective word before the land is named and pronounced good.

Connect the plural agreement to waters and the passive voice to their affected role, then let And it was so establish the command's efficacy.

Do not derive a scientific process from Nifal voice, and do not treat passive grammar as evidence that the waters act independently of God's command.