The Origins of Wayyiqṭol: A First-person Account

In this study, the writer explores Geoffrey Khan’s groundbreaking theory on the developmental history of the Biblical Hebrew wayyiqṭol form. After summarising earlier research on phonological and transcriptional evidence, the article details Khan’s claim, based on typological parallels from Amarna Canaanite and Neo-Aramaic and using Construction Grammar, that wayyiqṭol developed (by means of schematisation and secondary gemination to distinguish preterite semantics from volitional or purposive meanings) from a semantically undifferentiated Iron Age w-yiqṭol construction into a specialised form signalling discourse dependency and temporal posteriority. The study then analyses first-person w-yiqṭol morphology—preterite and volitive/purposive—across diverse corpora, complementing Khan’s study with a more detailed exploration of the diachronic dimension in usage and formal variation. Among important observations is the transition from strict morphological distinctions in early sources (represented by the Masoretic Pentateuch) to increased conflation in later texts in both semantic values. While this study deepens understanding of Biblical Hebrew verb forms, it also raises questions about their functional dynamics in pre-Tiberian traditions, as well as their eventual codification in the Masoretic system.