First Thought

וַיַּשְׁכִּ֣מוּ בַבֹּ֔קֶר וַיַּֽעֲל֥וּ אֶל־רֹאשׁ־הָהָ֖ר

In the morning, however, they rose up early and went up to the ridge of the hill country (Numbers 14:40)

The conjunction ו is a powerful linguistic tool in Scripture. Later in this lesson, we will study Genesis 1:1-5 from Hebrew Quest. Verse 2 begins with the conjunction prefixed to a noun, while verses 3-5 begin with the “Vav Consecutive”, which is to say the letter Vav is prefixed to a verb.

Like the dawning of a new day, after you complete this lesson, most of the verb forms that appear in the Hebrew Scriptures will be opened to you. We hope you are as excited about taking this new step into a larger world as we are excited for you!

Figure 17.1: Masada sunrise over the Dead Sea. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands