Wayyiqtol versus Qatal in Narrative

Exodus 39:8-10 provides us with a clear example of the difference between BH wayyiqtol and qatal.  Let me illustrate.

verse 8

ויעשׂ את־החשׁן And they made the breast-pouch.

verse 9

רבוע היה כפול עשׂו את־החשׁן It was square. They made the breast-pouch folded double.

verse 10

וימלאו ארבעה טורי אבן And they filled it with 4 rows of stone... 

The wayyiqtol in verse 8 describes an event, i.e. the making of the breast-pouch.  Then the switch to qatal in verse 9 signals that no new event is being added, but rather the further description of what was involved in the making of the breast-pouch.  It's as if the author says, "It involved making it in this way, i.e. square and folded double." Then verse 10 opens with a wayyiqtol signaling a new event, namely, the filling of the breast-pouch with 4 rows of stone.

Thus we have something like this.

wayyiqtol=new event in the narrative.

qatal=coloring in the details associated with said event.

The wayyiqtol introduces a new event in the event chain. The qatal presses the "pause" button on that event to provide more detail for the scene created by that event.  This is what Michel would call the explanatory function of a qatal which interrupts a chain of wayyiqtol's.

Joseph Justiss