Bible HebrewStory Verbs: וַיֹּאמֶר
“And he said”: the verb form that tells every Bible story, and how to see who acts.
וַיֹּאמֶר “and he said”: how Bible stories are told
Bible stories move forward one verb at a time, and almost every step uses the same form: וַ, then the letter that says who, then the verb. It means “and (then) he did …”. It is the most common verb form in the Bible, about 15,000 times.
The verb comes first and the one who acts comes after it: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים “And God said” (Genesis 1:3).
| After וַ | Who | Example |
|---|---|---|
| י | he | וַיֹּאמֶר and he said (Genesis 1:3) |
| תּ | she | וַתֹּאמֶר and she said (Genesis 3:2) |
| א (with וָ) | I | וָאֹמַר and I said (Deuteronomy 1:9) |
| נּ | we | וַנֹּאמֶר and we said (Genesis 44:22) |
| י, with וּ at the end | they | וַיֹּאמְרוּ and they said (Genesis 11:3) |
The letter after וַ usually has a dot that doubles it, as in וַיֹּאמֶר and וַתֹּאמֶר. Before א, which can't be doubled, וַ becomes וָ.
Genesis 1 is full of them: וַיְהִי “and it was, and it happened” (1:3), וַיַּרְא “and he saw” (1:4), וַיִּקְרָא “and he called” (1:5), וַיַּעַשׂ “and he made” (1:7), וַיְבָרֶךְ “and he blessed” (1:22). וַיְהִי also opens new scenes: “And it came to pass …”.
Don't mix it up: a plain וְ (a quick ə, no doubling) on a verb usually looks ahead instead: וְאָהַבְתָּ “and you shall love” (Deuteronomy 6:5). The verb lessons in level 4 come back to both.
Check yourself
What does וַיֹּאמֶר mean?
✓ and he said · he will say · say! · saying
וַ and then י, the “he” letter: “and he said”, as in Genesis 1:3.
What does וַתֹּאמֶר mean (Genesis 3:2)?
✓ and she said · and they said · and I said · she will say
The letter after וַ is תּ: “she”.
Who acts in וַיֹּאמְרוּ (Genesis 11:3)?
✓ they · he · we · I
י in front and וּ at the end: “they”.
Which means “and I said” (Deuteronomy 1:9)?
✓ וָאֹמַר · וַיֹּאמֶר · וַתֹּאמֶר · וַנֹּאמֶר
With א, “I”, the וַ becomes וָ, since א can’t be doubled.
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