The uses of imperfect aspect are as
follows.
1.
vav plus imperfect in VS
order is “narrative past”, used within an episode to track the progress of the
plot.
2.
vav plus subject plus
imperfect is a relative or coordinate clause.
3.
without vav in SV order is
possibly a true future tense usage.
4.
without vav may also be an
imperfect of process; this first turns up in Leviticus and may be a clue to the
relationship between imperfect and progressive aspects.
5.
vav plus imperfect in the
2nd singular or plural define the generalized or definitional envelope of
commandments or refer to a known cultural feature.
6.
in the 3rd person, in
portions about sacrificial ritual, imperfect provides the framework for the
ritual actions like the generalization envelope for a k’lal u-prat [u-k’lal]
structure.
7.
Preceded by ki or im is the
“if” clause in a law, usually a tort. Again, this is an envelope to a klal
uprat [uklal] structure.
8.
part of a parallel
structure in poetry and prophecy following a perfect verb as a parallel. They
will not use the same verb root and sometimes not the same binyan.
We’re up to #5, commandments. Imperfect aspect commandments in 2nd
person usually are followed by perfect aspect verbs. It’s part of a rule called
klal u-prat, a generalization followed by detail. Legally, it’s the definition of
what has to happen for there to be a court case at all, followed by what
consequences are actionable in court.
Probably the earliest such
commandments in Torah are – not the Big Ten – but the laws of Pesach in Exodus
12 after the plague of darkness.
ט אַל־תֹּֽאכְל֤וּ מִמֶּ֨נּוּ֙ נָ֔א וּבָשֵׁ֥ל מְבֻשָּׁ֖ל
בַּמָּ֑יִם כִּ֣י אִם־צְלִי־אֵ֔שׁ רֹאשׁ֥וֹ עַל־כְּרָעָ֖יו וְעַל־קִרְבּֽוֹ:
י וְלֹא־תוֹתִ֥ירוּ מִמֶּ֖נּוּ עַד־בֹּ֑קֶר וְהַנֹּתָ֥ר
מִמֶּ֛נּוּ עַד־בֹּ֖קֶר בָּאֵ֥שׁ תִּשְׂרֹֽפוּ:
יא וְכָ֘כָה֘ תֹּֽאכְל֣וּ אֹתוֹ֒ מָתְנֵיכֶ֣ם חֲגֻרִ֔ים
נַֽעֲלֵיכֶם֙ בְּרַגְלֵיכֶ֔ם וּמַקֶּלְכֶ֖ם בְּיֶדְכֶ֑ם וַֽאֲכַלְתֶּ֤ם אֹתוֹ֙
בְּחִפָּז֔וֹן פֶּ֥סַח ה֖וּא לַיהוָֹֽה:
Translation: Don’t eat any of it
soaked or cooked in water; but only roasted in fire, its head on its organs and
its innards.
Don’t leave any of it until morning;
what is left of it in the morning you shall burn with fire.
Thus you eat it: your loins girded
up, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hands; eat it in a hurry,
it is pesach l’****.
I’ll bring up verses 9 and 10 again
when I discuss negation.
Verse 11 may not match how you run
your Passover Seder at home, or a communal one you might go to. For example,
right in the Haggadah it says that everybody reclines to eat, and that some
rabbis stretched the party out until midnight, no matter how early it started
(such as early in March when the sun sets sooner). That’s not exactly eating
quickly in fear, as the second part of the verse has it.
There are discussions throughout
rabbinic literature about which commandments in Exodus 12 applied only in
Egypt, and which apply now. This detail (prat) in perfect aspect does not apply
now. But the commandments for matso, maror, and finishing by midnight all still
apply today.
Use of the imperfect for all the
other verbs shows that they are the definition of the Passover observance. For
all time. That’s why we still do things this way today.
Exodus 29:38-42 is a long stretch of
imperfect commandments which define the tamid
offering. It’s one long definition of what the tamid is. There are no
perfect aspect verbs in it. If somebody went to court to claim that a priest
did the tamid wrong, the court could ask which pratim did the priest
violate. The person bringing the case would have no answer. As you read the
rest of Torah, when you come to statements of ritual, notice what features if
any are expressed in perfect aspect. Those are the only issues an earthly court
can try.
And that is how BH grammar is the
basis of Jewish law.