Had Been Getting Tense In Genesis

I recently mentioned that two ways of translating the Hebrew verbs in Genesis 2:19 might, in theory, both be legitimate. A comment on that post raised the question whether one of them was in fact not justifiable:

…as I see it, the verb in question is a wayyiqtol. And the wayyiqtol is *never* (to my experience and understanding) used for information off of the main, foregrounded timeline: that is, it is a *sequential* past tense verb form, and would not be used to accomplish what English accomplishes using the pluperfect.

For me, then, this would be a particularly egregious example of NIV harmonization (making the second creation story match the first, by having the beasts created before humanity).

I appeal to my readers who specialize more in Hebrew and/or Semitic linguistics to chime in about this. Thanks in advance for doing so!