What does וַיַּחְשְׁבֶ֥הָ really mean in Genesis 15:6, literally and conceptually?

Question

And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness [Genesis 15:6 KJV]

Biblehub states thusly for the word וַיַּחְשְׁבֶ֥הָ, 'and he counted it', in Genesis 15:6 :

Conj‑w | V‑Qal‑ConsecImperf /3ms | 3fs

Conjunctive Waw / Verb Qal / Consecutive Imperfect / Third person masculine singular / third person feminine singular

I am interested in comparing this with the reporting of this statement, by Paul and James, in the Greek scriptures.

So I am interested in whether there is actually an 'and' there in the Hebrew, or if this is being added by English translation.

Whether there is an 'it' actually there as a noun : again, is this being added for the sake of English idiom ?

What the tense really is, 'consecutive imperfect', and its implications.

Why there are, in Biblehub, the two statements regarding gender (3ms and 3fs) rather than just one.

Any help will be appreciated.

I am trying to get to the real concept of the statement, as stated literally, and I wish to avoid any idiomatic additions which may obscure the real sense of the wording, however clumsy or incomplete that may seem to us as English speakers.

Answer 1

I'm an amateur at Ancient Hebrew but felt I could see this is arising from a grammar question and the difficult part (about how to read it once the grammar is known - and which I'd be less useful for) might fall away

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יַּחְשְׁבֶה

The "and" isn't a standalone word in the Ancient Hebrew, there is a vav conjunction - indicated by the וְ (vav) on the start of the word.

see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vav-consecutive

The challenge is how else should English translation render a vav conjunction.

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The "it" is similar - it's because the verb has a הָ (hā)

This is a suffix pronoun meaning "her" or "it." In this case, it serves as a direct object marker, indicating that the action of the verb is directed toward a feminine singular noun, which here is Abram's believing

(This also answers the last point about why are there two gender statements on biblehub.)

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For imperfect with vav consecutive:- https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Gesenius%27_Hebrew_Grammar/111._The_Imperfect_with_W%C4%81w_Consecutive

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Noting the last point, idiom isn't some throwaway thing. The language receiving the translation needs its idioms just as much as its syntax.

I mean, there's always a way...

"God andAccountedit forRighteousness the Abram HimandBelieved" (FUT = Felix's Unidiomatic Translation!)

But it's what the translation is for, and is one needed when there is YLT. This way I think would quickly become more hazard than help to comprehension.