The Perfect Tense

The perfect tense in the Hebrew verb is translated in much the same way we translate the “past tense” in English. However, in Hebrew there really is no “past tense,” only action that is regarded as completed. Thus, the Hebrew perfect tense indicates action that is completed in a variety of forms.

1. Simple Perfects

   The simple perfect is the most common use of the perfect, and it simply states that an act is completed (in English past time), or it may be stated with a present tense or future usage. If stated in the present tense, it is usually describing a characteristic of a life style within a particular segment of time. However, even in the present tense usage, the main idea of completion is still inherent in its meaning by the person/persons performing the act, etc., only the act is seen as taking place in the present time of the narration, versus at some time in the past. If it is given a future tense translation, it is normally for the purpose of emphasizing “assurance” of the action being described by the verb:

   1. Past Time – a simple act that belongs to a specific time period considered in the past:
      1. “In the beginning God created (בָּרָא – bārā’) the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
      2. “Noah walked (הִתְהַלֶּךְ – hitallek) with God” (Genesis 6:9).
   2. Present Time – in the use of the present tense, we usually see actions that are considered characteristic of a person or life style of a particular time:
      1. “Everything, O king, Araunah gives (נָתַן – nâtan) to the king” (2 Samuel 24:23). In this passage, David is wanting to purchase Araunah’s “threshing floor…in order that the plague may be held back from the people” (2 Samuel 24:21). David had taken a census of the people, against God’s will, and God gave him a choice of three consequences for his sin, and David chose the “three days pestilence in your land” (2 Samuel 24:13). Thus, David is now wanting to purchase Araunah’s threshing floor to build an altar to the Lord, but Araunah is insisting that David simply take the “threshing floor” as a gift to him, and so he says, “Everything, O king, Araunah has given (נָתַן – nâtan) to the king,” which means from Aranauh’s perspective, it is a completed act in the sense that all he owns has already been made available to the king, and so, his “threshing floor” “is given” at this very moment to the king, and was so before he even asked. The important thing to remember when attempting to understand the translation of a perfect tense verb into a present time frame is the context in which it is written.
      2. “Even the stork in the sky knows (יָדְעָה – yādə‘â) her seasons,… but my people do not know (יָֽדְעוּ – yādə‘û) the ordinance of the Lord” (Jeremiah 8:7). Once again, the idea of “completeness” is inherent in the translation of these two verbs in that the stork innately and instinctively “has known her seasons” from her conception, and thus, she presently “knows” them, but with God’s people, apart from a re-birth experience such as Abraham had (Genesis 15:6), as well as their hearts having been “circumcised by the Sprit” into an eternal relationship with the Lord (Deuteronomy 30:6; Romans 2:28-29), they have never really “known the ordinance of the Lord as a reality in their hearts and lives,” and thus, they “do not know the ordinance of the Lord.” Thus, the idea of “completeness” is set forth in the present reality from Jeremiah’s perspective.
   3. Future Time – the use of the future tense with the perfect is to express assurance about the action being expressed by the verb. Thus, its use is to emphasize assurance about whatever is being expressed in the sense that the “completeness” of that event is an assured conviction and truth.
      1. “Then Leah said, ‘Happy am I! For women will call me (אִשְּׁרֻוּנִי – ’iššərûnî) happy’” (Genesis 30:13). That is, in Leah’s mind, she sees the birth of Zilpah’s second son to Jacob (Zilpah was Leah’s personal maid), she assumes that it is a “completed” act in the mind of other women who will hear in the future of her being more fruitful than Rachel and they “call me happy,” that is, she sees in her mind as an already accomplished fact the respect and esteem she wants to garner from other women.
      2. “And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, ‘If you will only please listen to me; I will give (נָתַתִּי – nātattî) the price of the field, accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there’” (Genesis 23:13). Once again, from Abraham’s perspective, his having given the money to Ephron for the field is an already accomplished fact, and he is stating it as such as the English translation gives it in a future tense, but in Abraham’s mind, it is already a “completed act” on his part.
2. Previous Perfects

   The previous perfect in Hebrew is commonly translated with the English auxiliary verbs “had,” or “have.”

   1. Past Time
      1. “The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed (יָצָֽר – yāṣār) (Genesis 2:8).
      2. “He also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom Solomon had married (לָקַח – lāqaḥ)” (1 Kings 7:8).
   2. Present Time
      1. “Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned (עָזְבוּ – ‘ozbû) the Lord (and are presently “abandoning the Lord”), they have despised (נִֽאֲצוּ – ni’ăṣû) the Holy One of Israel (and are presently “despising the Holy One of Israel”), they have turned away (נָזֹרוּ – nāzōrû) from Him (and are presently “turning away from Him”)” (Isaiah 1:4).
      2. “I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown (עָשִׂיתָ – ‘āśîtā) to Your servant (and are showing “to Your Servant”)” (Genesis 32:10).
      3. In the above two examples, the English translation gives a past tense translation, but the idea inherent in these verbal constructions is that not only is this something that has characterized past action, it is also a picture of a present reality – thus, what began in the past is continuing in the present.
   3. Future Time
      1. “It shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall act promptly, for then the Lord will have gone out (יָצָא – yāṣā) before you to strike the army of the Philistines” (2 Samuel 5:24)
      2. “But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord will have given them (נְתָנָם – nətānām) into our hands; and this shall be the sign to us” (1 Samuel 14:10).
      3. In the above two instances, the “future tense” is stated in the translation, but what is actually stated is that God has already accomplished what He has promised to do, and we will see that accomplishment in future time. As we look at this grammatically, it is also imperative that we see the spiritual truth contained in this wonderful promise, contained in Hebrew grammar, and that is, with God His promises are “Yea and Amen,” which means, in our sense and perception of the past, present, and future, God’s Word and promises are “completed and done”!
3. Characteristic Perfects

   Characteristic perfects are normally always translated in the present tense, and its emphasis is that of a universal truth. That is, whatever is considered to be true of the subject being described may also be considered to be true for us as well.

   1. Isaiah 40:8: “The grass withers (יָבֵשׁ – yābēš), the flower fades (נָבֵֽל – nābēl), but the Word of our God stands forever.”
   2. Psalm 1:1: “How blessed is the man who does not walk (הָלַךְ – hālak) in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand (עָמָד – ‘āmād) in the path of sinners, nor sit (יָשָֽׁב – yāšāb) in the seat of scoffers!”
   3. Here too, what we see is an eternal truth that began in the past (Isaiah 40:8 with creation, and Psalm 1:1 with the man at some point in his life began his relationship with the Lord and has carried it forward to a present reality of his current lifestyle).
4. Coordinate Perfects

   The coordinate perfect is used with the conjunction “and.” What happens is that in a narrative situation (i.e., in a continuing dialog), if the beginning verb of the clause is in the imperfect tense (i.e., future), then the perfect, with the conjunction “and,” will be translated as a future tense. Or, if a participle begins the clause, then the perfect will be translated accordingly to compliment the tense of the participle. What this does is continue the narration in the time frame of the governing verb that began the clause, which may be the imperfect (i.e., future), or a participle, in which case the perfect will complement its usage. Thus, the perfect is “coordinated” with the lead verb.

   1. Genesis 24:7: “He will send (יִשְׁלַח – yišlaḥ) His angel before you and you will take (וְלָקַחְתָּ – vəlāqaḥtā) a wife for my son from there.” Here the phrase “you will take” is in the perfect, preceded with the conjunction “and,” which has an imperfect as the governing verb of the sentence, “will send.”
   2. Jeremiah 34:2: “...Behold, I am giving (הִנְנִינֹתֵן – hinnînōtēn – Qal Perfect Active Participle) - this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it (וּשְׂרָפָהּ – ûśərāpâ – perfect) with fire.