תָּב֥וֹא (tā·ḇō·w) in Genesis 15:15: Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
תָּב֥וֹא (tā·ḇō·w) in Genesis 15:15
Source Word
The BSB+ row for Genesis 15:15 links the English rendering "will go" with תָּב֥וֹא, Strong's H935, and the morphology label V-Qal-Imperf-2ms.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form keeps the promise personal: Abram is directly addressed with assurance about his own end.
How To Communicate It
When teaching Genesis 15:15, use this form to distinguish Abram's personal assurance from the later history promised for his descendants.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not flatten every imperfect into the same future value apart from context.
- Do not make the phrase about Abram's fathers carry more doctrine than the verse states.
- Do not treat this occurrence as a complete word study for H935.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-verb
Verb
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Qal
Imperfect
Second person
Masculine
Singular
The imperfect form presents the action as unfolding, expected, or desired in context; Genesis 15:15 determines how that force is heard.
This form carries the BSB rendering "will go" within Genesis 15:15. 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 assurance to Abram in Genesis 15:15 that he will go to his fathers in peace
The Lord's covenant reassurance to Abram
It states what Abram himself will experience: he will go to his fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.
The imperfect does not by itself settle the full theology of death, afterlife, ancestry, or peace.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The form carries a personal assurance to Abram within the covenant scene.
Qal imperfect second masculine singular addressed to Abram. states what Abram will experience. Attached to the assurance clause in Genesis 15:15. Governed by the clause and passage context. The Hebrew form should be explained from the clause and context, not flattened into one automatic English value.
Who is directly addressed in this promise? Abram is directly told that he will go to his fathers in peace.
Direct: The covenant context directly supports the future rendering "will go."
Hebrew imperfect forms can express future, modal, expected, or context-shaped action. The second masculine singular form identifies Abram as the addressee in this promise. The idiom about going to one's fathers must be interpreted from the verse and canonical context.
Imperfect alone proves the whole promise: The imperfect marks the verbal form; the Lord's speech carries the promise. grammar alone settles afterlife doctrine: The form supports the clause, but the larger doctrine must come from the passage and canon.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The BSB+ row for Genesis 15:15 links the English rendering "will go" with תָּב֥וֹא, Strong's H935, and the morphology label V-Qal-Imperf-2ms.
H935 is represented here by the lemma בּוֹא. In this occurrence, the public guide is limited to the BSB rendering "will go" rather than every possible gloss of the entry.
The imperfect is read within the Lord's promise to Abram and is directed to him as the second masculine singular addressee.
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 15:15, use this form to distinguish Abram's personal assurance from the later history promised for his descendants.
Do not derive a full theology of death, ancestors, peace, or burial from V-Qal-Imperf-2ms alone. The form marks one assurance addressed to Abram.