What to do with that pesky Hebrew vav

Scholars are divided as to the proper syntactic classification of clauses with a “subordinate” ו. Van der Merwe et al. (1999: §40.8) recognize a separate use of ו as a subordinating conjunction. Waltke and O’Connor (1990: §38.1h), in contrast, write that “the system expressed in the text may skew the unexpressed semantic system”; that is, the formally nonsubordinate ו clause may be used to express a logically subordinate idea. Steiner (1997: 168) takes an intermediate view between these positions, stating that “the boundary between coordination and subordination in BH is not as sharp as in English.” He views ו as a universal connector that can be used to connect coordinated or subordinated clauses.— Word Order in the Biblical Hebrew Finite Clause, page 57