INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW Thomas O. Lambdin HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/1RT0N-LONGMAN +TODD PREFACE First published in Great Britain in 1973 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd 1 Spencer Court 140-142 Wandsworth High Street London SW18 4JJ Copyright © 1971 Charles Scribner's Sons ISBN-10: 0-232-51369-4 1SBN-13: 978-0-232-51369-1 Reprinted (as paperback) 1976 19th Printing 2009 Note The key to Lambdin's Introduction to Biblical Hebrew is published by Sheffield Academic Press Ltd, 343 Fulwood Road, Sheffield, S10 3BP. Printed and bound in Great Britain by Page Bros, Norwich, Norfolk This textbook is designed for a full year's course in elementary Biblical Hebrew at the college level. In its choice of vocabulary and grammar it is essentially an introduction to the prose, not the poetical language. While my aim has been to include only what I consider necessary for the grammatically intelligent reading of the texts on which the work is based, experienced teachers may nevertheless wish to expand or condense one portion or another according to the needs of their own courses and the problems of their particular students. By keeping the grammatical discussion at a relatively unsophisticated level I have tried to make the book as serviceable as possible to those who want to study the language without a teacher. Although the present work clearly falls within the category of traditional grammars, there are several features in the presentation which require a brief comment. The generous use of transliteration is meant to serve three purposes: to enable the student to perceive Hebrew as a language, and not an exercise in decipherment; to remove the customary initial obstacle, wherein the student was required to master innumerable pages of rather abstract phonological and orthographic details before learning even a sentence of the language; and to facilitate the memorization of the paradigms, where the essential features are, in my opinion, set in greater relief than in the conventional script. The morphology of the verb is presented in a way that best exploits the underlying similarities of the various forms, regardless of the root type; this permits the introduction of the most common verbs at an appropriately early point in the grammar and also allows the discussions of the derived "conjugations" to be unhampered by restricts] PREFACE tion to examples from sound roots. As much space as possible has been given to the systematic treatment of noun morphology and to the verb with object suffixes; the simplification of this material attempted in many elementary grammars is actually a disservice to the student. When he turns to his first page of unsimplified reading, he finds that what he should have learned systematically must instead be learned at random, inefficiently and with no little difficulty. And finally, special attention has been given to an orderly presentation of prose syntax, beginning with a characterization of the various types of individual clauses and proceeding to sequences of interrelated clauses. In the initial stages of preparing this book I was greatly aided in the selection of vocabulary by George M. Landes' A Student's Vocabulary of Biblical Hebrew (New York, 3961), furnished to me in page proof at that time by the author, to whom I now wish to acknowledge my thanks. In the nearly ten years since that time the innumerable suggestions and corrections submitted by my students and colleagues working with various drafts of the book have been of enormous help in improving the quality of the finished product. I am especially grateful, however, to Dr. Avi Hurwitz, now at the Hebrew University, for his great kindness in giving an earlier draft of this book a thorough and critical reading and in providing me with many corrections. The errors that remain are of course due to my own oversight. The setting of pointed Hebrew with a special sign marking stress always proves to be a difficult job, even in this age of technological marvels. I wish to thank the publisher and the printer for their unstinting efforts to ensure correctness in this regard. Cambridge, Mass. thomas o. lambdin May 1971 CONTENTS Preface [Hi] Introduction; Sounds and Spelling 1. The Sounds of Biblical Hebrew. 2. Syllabification, 3, Stress. 4. The Consonants Known as the Begadkepat. 5. Vowel Reduction. 6. Special Features of the Guttural Consonants and R. 7. The Hebrew Alphabet. 8. Some Features of Hebrew Orthography (Spelling). 9. The Daghesh. 10. The Vowel Points. 11. Metheg. Lesson 1 [3] 12. The Noun: Gender. 13. Number. 14. The Definite Article. 15. Prepositions. 16. Sentences with Adverbial Predicates. 17. Vocabulary 1. Lesson 2 [8] 18. The Definite Article (cont.). 19. Noun Plurals. 20. Vocabulary 2. Lesson 3 [12] 21. The Definite Article (concluded). 22. Adjectives. 23. The Use of Adjectives. 24. Vocabulary 3. [V] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW Lesson 4 [17] 25. Noun Plurals (cont.). 26. The Active Participle. 27. The Object Marker ~m 'el-. 28. Vocabulary 4. Lesson 5 122] 29. The Prepositions a ba-, \ b-, and a tea-. 30. The Preposition ja min. 31. The Comparative. 32. The Relative Word -itix 'user. 33. Vocabulary 5. Lesson 6 [27] 34. Noun Plurals (cont.). 35. Participles (cont.). 36. Vocabulary 6. Lesson 7 [30] 37. Predication of Existence. 38. The Prepositions a ha-, V b-, and-riN 'et- with Pronominal Suffixes. 39. Vocabulary 7. Lesson 8 [34] 40. The Demonstrative Adjectives and Pronouns. 41. Participles (cont.). 42. Vocabulary 8. Lesson 9 [37] 43. The Perfect of ana kcitab. 44. The Meaning of the Perfect. 45. Word Order in the Verbal Sentence. 46. The Forms of the Conjunction l ira-. 47. Vocabulary 9. Lesson 10 [43] 48. The Perfect of Verbs with Guttural Root Consonants. 49. The Perfect of jna nätan. 50. Noun Plurals (cont.). 51. Vocabulary 10. Lesson 11 [47] 52. The Perfect of Verbs III-Aleph: usa mäsä('). 53. Noun Plurals (cont.). 54. Interrogative q ha-. 55. More on "KSK 'aser. 56. Vocabulary 11. Lesson 12 [51] 57. The Perfect of Verbs III-He: rna bünäh. 58. Directive n- -ah. 59. Vocabulary 12. Lesson 13 [55] 60. Sentences with a Nominal Predicate. 61. The Verb rrrr Imyah (to be). 62. Noun Plurals (concluded). 63. Vocabulary 13. [VI] contents] Lesson 14 [59] 64. The Perfect of Oj? qmn and xa ba!. 65. The Prepositions 1» min and s/ca with Pronominal Suffixes. 66. ba tö/. 67. Vocabulary 14. Lesson 15 [63] 68. The Perfect of aaD siibab. 69. The Prepositions DV 'im and 'el with Pronominal Suffixes. 70. Final Remarks omra. 71. Vocabulary 15. Lesson 16 [67] 72. The Construct Chain. 73. The Form of the Construct Singular. 74. Vocabulary 16. Lesson 17 [73] 75. The Construct Singular: Minor Types. 76. The Construct Singular of Feminine Nouns in -ah. 77. Vocabulary 17. Lesson 18 [77] 78. The Construct Forms of Plural Nouns in -im. 79. The Construct Form of Plural Nouns in -of. 80. Vocabulary 18. Lesson 19 [82] 81. The Independent (Subject) Form of the Personal Pronoun. 82. The Interrogative Pronouns. 83. The Prepositions ba, nrjri and nq« with Pronominal Suffixes. 84. Vocabulary 19. Lesson 20 [86] 85. The Noun with Pronominal Suffixes. 86. Vocabulary 20. Lesson 21 [93] 87. Stative Verbs. 88. The Nouns as, m and ns. 89. Vocabulary 21. Lesson 22 [99] 90. The Imperfect. 91. The Meaning of the Imperfect. 92. The Dual. 93. Vocabulary 22. Lesson 23 [103] 94. Imperfects in a. 95. Verbs III-Aleph: the Imperfect. 96. The Nouns [a and am. 97. Vocabulary 23. Lesson 24 [107] 98. The Narrative Sequences. 99. The Segholates. 100. Remarks on Some Prepositions. 101. Vocabulary 24. [VII] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW contents] Lesson 25 [113] 102. The Imperative. 103. Verbs I-guttural: Imperfect and Imperative. 104. The Segholates (cont.). 105. Vocabulary 25. Lesson 26 [118} 106. The Jussive and Cohortative. 107. Sequences Involving the Imperative, Jussive, and Cohortative. 108. Verbs I-Aleph: Imperfect and Related Forms. 109. Vocabulary 26. Lesson 27 [123] 110. Temporal Clauses and Phrases. 111. Feminine Nouns Ending in -ef and -at. 112. Nouns of the Type ns. 113. Vocabulary 27. Lesson 28 [127] 114. The Infinitive Construct. 115. Some Uses of the Infinitive Construct. 116. Final Remarks on Some Noun Types. 117. Vocabulary 28. Lesson 29 [133] 118. Verbs I-Nun: Imperfect and Related Forms. 119. Vocabulary 29. Lesson 30 [138] 120. Verbs I-Yodh: Imperfect, Imperative, and Infinitive Construct. 121. Vocabulary 30. Lesson 31 [143] 122. Verbs Ill-He: Imperfect, Imperative, and Infinitive Construct. 123. Vocabulary 31. Lesson 32 [148] 124. Hollow Verbs (II-Waw/Yodh): Imperfect, Imperative, and Infinitive Construct. 125. Vocabulary 32. Lesson 33 [153] 126. Geminate Verbs: Imperfect, Imperative, and Infinitive Construct. 127. Vocabulary 33. Lesson 34 [157] 128. The Passive Participle. 129. The Infinitive Absolute. 130. The Numbers from 3 to 10. 131. Vocabulary 34. Lesson 35 [162] 132. Clauses Joined with iya-. 133. and r>N. 134. Vocabulary 35. Lesson 36 [168] 135. nan. 136. xa and Hj-nari. 137. Tisiandrra. 138. Vocabulary 36. Lesspn 37 [175] 139. Derived Verbs. 140. Niphal Verbs: Meaning. 141. Niphal Verbs: Stems and Inflection. 142. Vocabulary 37. Lesson 38 [183] 143. Niphal Verbs: Stems and Inflection (cont.). 144. Niphal Verbs: Mixed Types. 145. Vocabulary 38. Lesson 39 [188] 146. Niphal Verbs: Stems and Inflection (concluded). 147. Vocabulary 39. Lesson 40 [193] 148. Piel Verbs: Meaning. 149. Piel Verbs: Stems and Inflection. 150. Vocabulary 40. Lesson 41 [200] 151. Piel Verbs: Stems and Inflection (concluded). 152. Pausal Forms. 153. Vocabulary 41. Lesson 42 [205] 154. The Pual. 155. Proclisis, Retraction of Stress, and Conjunctive Daghesh. 156. Vocabulary 42. Lesson 43 [27/] 157. Hiphil Verbs: Meaning. 158. Hiphil Verbs: Stems and Inflection. 159. Vocabulary 43. Lesson 44 [218] 160. Hiphil Verbs: Stems and Inflection (cont.). 161. More on Numbers. 162. Vocabulary 44. Lesson 45 [222] 163. Hiphil Verbs: Stems and Inflection. 164. The Numbers from 11 to 19. 165. Vocabulary 45. Lesson 46 [227] 166. Hiphil Verbs: Stems and Inflection (cont.). 167. The Numbers from 21 to 99. 168. Vocabulary 46. Lesson 47 [231] 169. Hiphil Verbs: Stems and Inflection (cont.). 170. An Idiomatic Use of f?n. 171. Vocabulary 47. [VIII] [IX] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW Lesson 48 [237] 172. Hiphil Verbs: Stems and Inflection (concluded). 173. Verbal Hendiadys and Related Idioms. 174. Vocabulary 48. Lesson 49 [243] 175. The Hophal. 176. Vocabulary 49. Lesson 50 {248] 177. The Hithpael. 178. Vocabulary 50. Lesson 51 [253] 179. The Qal Passive. 180. Pole!, Polal, and Hithpolel. 181. Other Verb Types. 182. Final Remarks on the Numbers. 183. Vocabulary 51. Lesson 52 [260] 184. The Verb with Object Suffixes. 185. Object Suffixes on the Perfect: Third Person Masculine Singular. 186. Object Suffixes on the Perfect: Second Person Masculine Singular. 187. Vocabulary 52. Lesson 53 [266] 188. Object Suffixes on the Perfect: Third Person Feminine Singular. 189. Object Suffixes on the Remaining Forms of the Perfect. 190. A Group of Irregular Qal Verbs. 191. Vocabulary 53. Lesson 54 [271] 192. Object Suffixes on the Imperfect. 193. Object Suffixes on the Imperative. 194. Object Suffixes on the Infinitive Construct. 195. Vocabulary 54 Lesson 55 [276] 196. Conditional Sentences. 197. Concluding Remarks on Clause Sequences. 198. Vocabulary 55. contents] Hebrew-English Glossary. English-Hebrew Glossary. Index. [342] [316] [329] Appendix A. A Classified List of Nouns. [285] Appendix B. Qal Verbs: The Principal Parts According to Root Types. Appendix C. The Derived Conjugations: A Synopsis. [311] Appendix D. Chronological Table. [314] Appendix E. Brief Bibliography. [315] [XI [301 [XI] INTRODUCTION The Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament) is a collection of writings whose composition spans most of the millennium from c. 1200 B.C. to c TJO B.C. Because a spoken language does not remain constant over so long a period of time, we must recognize Biblical Hebrew as a form of the spoken language standardized at a particular time and perpetuated thereafter as a fixed literary medium. It is generally assumed that Biblical Hebrew, to the extent that it is linguistically homogeneous, is a close approximation to the language of the monarchic periods preceding the Babylonian Exile {thus, before 587 B.C.), during which a major portion of biblical literature was compiled and composed. The sparse inscriptional materia! of the ninth to seventh centuries B.C. corroborates this view, but does not permit us to establish more precise limits. In the post-exilic period spoken Hebrew came under the strong influence of other languages, especially Aramaic, but also Persian and, later, Greek. The literary language of biblical writings during this time remained relatively free of this influence, which shows up more clearly in post-biblical sources such as the Rabbinic Hebrew of the Mishna and other traditional works lying beyond the scope of this grammar. Exactly when Hebrew ceased to be a spoken language is difficult, if not impossible, to determine, but in all probability its demise was concurrent with the devastation of Judaea in the Jewish revolts against Roman rule in the first two centuries A.D. Hebrew is a member of the extensive Semitic language family, whose principal divisions are as follows: (1) Northeast Semitic: Babylonian and Assyrian (Akkadian); (2) Southeast Semitic: Ancient South Arabic and the related modern languages of South Arabia and Ethiopia; (3) Southwest Semitic: Classical Arabic and the host of related modern Arabic dialects; (4) Northwest Semitic, comprising (a) Aramaic (b) Canaanite (Ugaritic, Phoenician, Hebrew) Our knowledge of Biblical Hebrew is directly dependent on Jewish oral tradition and thus on the state of that tradition during and following the [XIII] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW various dispersions of the Jews from Palestine. This dependence arises from the peculiarly deficient orthography in which the biblical text was written: it is essentially vowelless, or at most, vocalically ambiguous (see below, §8). The actual pronunciation of the language was handed down orally, and as the Jews left or were expelled from Palestine and formed new communities in Babylonia, Egypt, and eventually throughout most of the civilized world, the traditional reading of biblical texts diverged gradually from whatever norm might have existed prior to these dispersions. The written consonantal text itself achieved a final authoritative form around the end of the first century A.D. This text was successfully promulgated among all the Jewish communities, so that texts postdating this time do not differ from one another in any important particulars. Prior to the fixing of an authoritative text, however, the situation was quite different, and the reader is referred to the bibliography (Appendix E) for the names of a few works that will introduce him to the complex problems of ancient texts and versions. Modern printed versions of the Hebrew Bible derive from several essentially similar sources, all reflecting the grammatical activity of Jewish scholars (or Masoretes, traditionalists) in Tiberias, who during the 9th and 10th centuries A.D. perfected a system of vowel notation and added it to the received consonantal text. Because the vowel system reflected in this notation is not exactly the same as that of the tradition used in other locales, we must recognize that Hebrew grammar, as based on the vocalized Tiberian Masoretic text, is no more or less authentic than that which would derive from other traditions: it is simply the best preserved and has received, by universal adoption, the stamp of authority. A treatment of the fragmentary evidence of the non-Tiberian traditions lies beyond the scope of an elementary grammar. The standard Masoretic text is also known as the Ben Asher text, after the family name of the Tiberian scholars identified with the final editing. The Bibiia Hebraka (3rd edition, Stuttgart, 1937) used by most modern students and scholars is based on the copy of a Ben Asher manuscript now in Leningrad and dating from 1008/9 A.D. Most other printed Hebrew Bibles are based ultimately on the text of the Second Rabbinic Bible (Venice, 1524-25); the manuscript sources of this work have not been fully identified, but it does not differ substantially from the text of the Bibiia Hebraka. A new and comprehensive edition of the Hebrew Bible is in progress in Israel; it will utilize the partially destroyed Aleppo Codex, which is convincingly claimed as an authentic manuscript of the Ben Asher family. A limited number of variant readings are indicated marginally in the Masoretic text. These are commonly referred to as kaiib-qare, i.e. one word is written (katfb) in the consonant text itself but another, as indicated in the margin, is to be read {qare). [XIV] SOUNDS AND SPELLING [Note: The materia! in this section has been presented as a unit for ready reference. After studying § § 1-3 the reader should begin Lesson 1 (p. 3). The reading of further paragraphs will be indicated as required.] 1. The Sounds of Biblical Hebrew. As stated in the Introduction, we cannot determine absolutely the sounds of Biblical Hebrew in the period during which the literary language was fixed. The pronunciation used in this book has been chosen to preserve as faithfully as possible the consonantal and vocalic distinctions recognized by the Masoretes, but, at the same time, to do the least violence to what we know of the earlier pronunciation. A uniform system of transliteration has been idopted which attempts to represent the Hebrew orthography simply and accurately. a. Consonants Type Labial Labio-dental Interdental Dental or alveolar Transliteration b P m w b P t d t d z Pronunciation* [b] as in bait [p] as in pay [m] as in main [w] as in well [v] as in vase [f] as in face [8] as in thin [S] as in this [t] as in time [d] as in door [s] as in sing [z] as in zone Square brackets enclose currently used phonetic symbols as a guide to those who are familiar with them. Do not confuse these with the transliteration. [XV] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW sounds and spelling] n [n] as in noon Prepalatal s [J] as in show y [y] as in yes Palatal k [k] as in king g, g [g] as in go k [x] as in German Bach Velar q [q] There is no exact English equivalent of this sound. It is a type of [k], but with the contact between the tongue and the roof of the mouth as far back as possible. Guttural ' [''] the glottal stop h [h] as in house [r] no Eng. equivalent h [h] no Eng. equivalent The glottal stop f] is used in English, but not as a regular part of its sound system. It is made by a complete stoppage of breath in the throat and may be heard in certain Eastern pronunciations of words like bottle and batik, in which the glottal stop replaces the normal /, thus [ba'l], [bae'I]. The sound [hJ is an /i-sound, but with strong constriction between the base of the tongue and the back of the throat, thus with a much sharper friction than ordinary h. The [p] is similarly produced, but with the additional feature of voicing. Most modern readers of Biblical Hebrew do not use these two sounds, replacing them with [x] and [''] respectively. Those making such a simplification should be careful not to confuse these four sounds in spelling. The four sounds which we shall call gutturals throughout this book are more precisely described as laryngeals and pharyngealized laryngeals, but because the modern terminology is often inconsistently applied, we find no compelling reason to abandon the more traditional designation. Liquids Modified Dental [r] as in rope [I] as in line [t] as in time [ts] as in hits The pronunciation indicated for f and s is a standard modern substitution for the original sounds, whose true nature can only be conjectured as [t] and [s] accompanied by constriction in the throat (pharyngealization or glot-talization), thus producing a tenser, duller sound. [XVI] i, i i e, e e, ? a a, ä u, ü u 6, ö o [u] as in mood [u] as in book [o] as in note [a] as in bought [a] as in above, and very brief in duration b. Vowels It is customary in treating Hebrew vowels to speak of length as well as quality. Though this distinction is probably valid for the earlier pronunciation, it is doubtful whether vowel quantity played any important part in the original Masoretic system. The diacritical marks used in our transcription are thus t0 be taken as devices reflecting the Hebrew spelling and not necessarily as markers of real length, [i] as in machine [i] as in it [e] as in they [e] as in bet [a] as in father or-[a] as in that [a] as in father or [3] as in bought Some distinction between the two vowels a and a should be made, since they must always be clearly distinguished in spelling. The choice is left to the reader: either [a] as opposed to [a] or [a] as opposed to[o]. In addition to the vowels listed above there are three others (a e o) which, together with a, are known as reduced vowels. They are of very brief duration but with the same quality as the corresponding full vowel": a is a very short a, e a very short e, and o a very short o. The following diphthongal combinations of vowel + y or w occur frequently at the ends of words: iw the vowel 1 + a very short [a]. Also pronounced as [iv], as in English eve. ew, ew e/e + [a]. Also [ev], as in save. aw, aw a + [u] like the ou of house, or as [aw] or [av] aw a + [u], or as [av] or [av] ay [ay] like the y of sky; or [ay], similar to the oy of toy. ay [ay] or [ay] oy, oy [oy], similar to the owy of showy, but without the n>. uy, Qy [uy] somewhat like the uey of gluey. For descriptive purposes we shall refer to the vowels according to the following classification, without prejudice to the actual length of the vowels involved: (1) unchangeable long: e 6 u and sometimes 0 (2) changeable long: e a o (3) short: i e a o u (4) reduced: b a e 0 [XVII] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW 2. Syllabification. With very few exceptions a syllable must begin with a single consonant followed at least by one vowel. This rule alone will suffice for the accurate division of a word into syllables. Consider the following examples: midbar (wilderness): mid-bar 'abiw (his father): 'a-biw dabdrim (words): da-ba-rlm mimmenni (from me): mim-men-nt gibborim (warriors): gib-bo-rim yislahenl (he will send me): yis-la-lw-iu pronounced [mi^'bdr] ['a'viw] [dsva'rim] [mimmenni] [gibbo'rim] [yijln i-irai] [malks xa] [malxe'xEm] malkaka (your king): mal-ka-ka malkekem (your kings): mal-ke-kem In none of these examples is any other division of syllables possible without violating the basic rule. Syllables are of two types: open and dosed. An open syllable is one which ends in a vowel; a closed syllable ends in a consonant. Syllables containing a diphthong may be considered as closed, taking the y or u> as a consonant. The distinction is irrelevant in this case. When determining syllabification note that a doubled consonant, such as -bb- or -mm-, is always to be divided in the middle. This does not mean that there is any perceptible pause between the syllables in pronunciation: a doubled consonant is simply held longer than a single one. Contrast the long n of English meanness with the normal short ;i of any. Examples are SOUNDS AND SPELLING] cir spirantized counterparts b, g, d, k, p, and t on the other. Although no u|e can be given for the choice between the sounds of one set and those of the other without important exceptions, the following observations will vide a safe guide for the majority of occurrences, (a) Of the two sets, only the stops occur doubled. Thus we find -bb- (as ■ habbdyil, the house), -dd- {haddelet, the door), -kk- (hakkali, the vessel), etc., but'never -bb-, -gg-, -dd-, etc. ' (b) The stops b, g, d, k.p, t occur (excluding the doubling just mentioned) only at tne beginning of a syllable when immediately preceded by another consonant: mcilki (my king): mal-ki but melek (king): me-lek. Elsewhere one finds the spirantized counterpart, which, by a simple process of elimination, occurs (a) mainly at the close of a syllable, or (b) at the beginning of a syllable when the preceding sound is a vowel. Contrast, for example, the b of midbar (mid-bar) and the b of ndb'C (na-hi).* When a word begins with one of these sounds, it usually has the stop when it occurs in isolation (thus: bdyit, a house), but when some element ending in a vowel is prefixed, the stop is automatically replaced by the corresponding spirant. Be sure the following examples are clear: libbaka (your heart): lib-ba-ka mimmskd (from you): mim-ma-ka hassamdyim (the heavens): has-sa-md-yim [libbs'xa] [mimms'xa] [hajja'mayim] 3. Stress, Words are stressed on the last syllable (ultima) or on the next to last (penul-tima). The former is more frequent. ultimate stress: ddbdr (word); dabdrim (words); nabV (prophet) penultimate stress: milek (king); Idyldh (night); nahdset (bronze) Only penultimate stress will be marked in this book. The stressed syllable is often referred to as the tonic syllable, and the two preceding it as the pretonic and propretonic respectively. 4. The consonants known as the begadkepat. Two sets of six sounds each are closely related to one another, both in sound and distribution. These are the six stops b, g, d, k, p, t on the one hand and [XVIII] bdyit a house kali a vessel delet a door but kabdyit like a house ukalt and a vessel ladelet to a door. In a sentence the-mere fact that the preceding word ends in a vowel is enough lo warrant the spirant; thus, bOnu bdyit they built a house not baiiu bdyit. There are, however, many exceptions to this, depending on the degree of grammatical relationship between the words in question. It is best, at least hypothetically, to regard the stop g and the spirant g as two distinct sounds, although no modern tradition except the Yemenite has preserved the difference. 5. Vowel Reduction. Many of the changes that characterize Hebrew inflections follow distinct and predictable patterns, of which the most consistent is that of vowel reduction. (a) Propretonic reduction. The vowels a and e are regularly reduced to a in open propretonic syllables. That is, when in the course of inflection the • Note that our statement does not preclude the possibility or a spirant occurring at the beginning of a syllable preceded by another consonant: malkekem (your kings). [XIX] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW sounds an13 spelling] accent is shifted so as to place these two vowels in propretonic position, the replacement just mentioned is made. For example, when the plural ending -im is added to the stem of the noun nabT (prophet), the accent is on the ending, leaving the a in propretonic position. Thus, nabV + im -i *na-hi-im -* iiabVhn Similarly with e; lebab + dt -> *Ie-ba-bdt -> hbabot Other examples are maqdm + of -» *ma-qo-mat -» maqomot zaqen + im -» *za-qe-nim -> zaqenim This type of reduction is regularly found in the inflection of nouns and adjectives, but is less common among verbs other than those with object suffixes. (b) Pretonk redaction, A second reduction pattern, often conflicting with the above, involves reduction of a or e in a pretonk open syllable. In noun inflections this is true mainly for those words whose first syllable (propretonic) is unchangeable (i.e. contains one of the unchangeable long vowels or is a closed syllable) and whose pretonic syllable would contain e: sdpe( + im -> sopstmi Pretonic reduction is very frequent in verbs, regardless of the vowel: yikidb + u -» yiktdbu (they will write) yitten + u -> yittomt (they will give) yi'snui' + u ~* yisim'u (they will hear). Attention has been called to these two reduction patterns since one or the other figures in most of the inflections to be studied. Unfortunately, however, it is not always possible to predict accurately which pattern will be followed, so that each paradigm should be carefully analyzed. The Rule of Shewa. A sequence of two syllables each with 3 (shewa) is not tolerated by Hebrew structure. When such a sequence would arise in the course of inflection or when combining various words and elements, the following replacement is made: consonant + 3 + cons. + a -» cons. + i 4- cons. Thus: h (to)+ rwbti (my prophet) -* linbVi (not hnabVi). 6. Special Features of the Guttural Consonants and R. (a) The gutturals and r do not occur doubled. (b) The gutturals are never followed immediately by a. These two characteristics account for certain regular deviations from an expected norm. For example, since the definite article before non-gutturals is ha + doubling of the following consonant, we should expect the article to [XX] be somewhat different before words beginning with a guttural or r. We shall see in the lessons that ha- occurs in some cases, ha- (without doubling) in others. Whenever a long vowel (a e a) occurs before a guttural or r and corresponds formally to a short vowel before a doubled non-guttural, the vowel is said to be long by compensatory lengthening, i.e. to compensate for the non-doubling of the guttural. When a short vowel {a i it o) occurs before a guttural in similar situations, the guttural is said to be virtually doubled. As for the second feature listed above, the presence of a guttural means a substitution of a (less commonly of e or 0) for an expected a. This is illustrated by hakam (wise person) + im -» hakamim (not hdkamim) hazaq (strong person) + im -» hdzaqim (not Iwzaqim). It is convenient to think of a, 2, and 0 as varieties of a to be used after gutturals and to see that a word like halom (dream) has essentially the same vowel pattern as bakor (first-born). When a word ends with' , h, or h (when this is not a vowel letter, see §8), a preceding i e u 6 is followed by a non-syllabic glide element a. Thus, sits (horse) but IttVi (tablet) koteh (writing) but sdleah (sending) gadol (big) but gabd"h (high). The Rule of Shewa as applied to sequences involving gutturals: cons. + 3 + guttural +& -» cons. + a + gutt. -|- a E.g. ba (in) + halomi (my dream) -* bahalomi Similarly with e and d. Another sequence arising from vowel reduction is illustrated by hakam + e (which requires double reduction) -» *hakame -t> hakme. I.e. gutt. + a + cons. + b -> gutt. + a + cons. N.B. Rules given in the grammar to account for the peculiarities of gutturals do not apply to r unless so stated. 7. The Hebrew Alphabet. The alphabet used in writing all the traditional texts of the Old Testament is more properly Aramaic than Hebrew. The situation is summarized by the table on the following page. Sometime during the first half of the second millennium B.C. the alphabet was invented in the Syro-Palestinian area. This alphabet was a new creation, not directly based on any other system of writing then in use, but it seems to have been most clearly influenced by certain features of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, especially in the lack of symbols to represent vowels. The most prolific branch of the alphabet was the Phoenician, attested in [XXI] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW Prolo-Alphabet / \ B.C. 1500 Proto-South Sinaitic Semitic 1000 500 North Arabic A.D. 0 /\ Hebrew South Arabic Samaritan Ethiopic Prototype Phoenician Ugaritic Prototype Prototype Phoenician ^Ar^iTr Early Greek Etruscan, Latin, etc. SOUNDS AND SPELLING] The Present Syriac, Arabic, etc. Mod. Hebrew Script inscriptions from about the eleventh century onward. The Hebrews borrowed their script from the Phoenicians in the tenth century B.C., and this new "Hebrew" script, subsequently diverging from the parent Phoenician, was used in various types of inscriptions down to the beginning of the Christian Era. With the exception, however, of the manuscript traditions of the Samaritan sect, which still employs a form of this genuinely Hebrew script, the old script was replaced, especially in manuscript uses, by a cursive form of the Old Aramaic script, itself a daughter of the parent Phoenician of nearly the same age as the Hebrew, It is this Aramaic manuscript hand which is already employed in Hebrew papyri and parchments of the second and first centuries B.C. and is attested as the normal alphabet for writing Hebrew from that time until the present. THE HEBREW ALPHABET NAME LETTER OUR TRANSCRIPTION PHONETIC VALUE 'alep N t glottal stop or zero bit 3 b [b] a b [v] gimel .i 1 [g] a I [g] dalet t t d [d] t d m he ÍI h [h] or zero [XXII] NAME LETTER OUR TRANSCRIPTION PHONETIC VALUE lťííll' 1 w [w] or zero závin T z [z] llél n h [H] fel D t [t] yod - y [y] or zero kap k [k] 1 k [X] lámecj 1 [1] mém n Ü m [m] nůn : 1 n [n] sámek 0 s m 'áyin v - [<■] péh B •1 P [p] B 1 P [(] saděh X V s [ts] qdp P q tq] rěš 1 r [r] Šili i» é b\ Sin si š m taw n i w n i m 8. Some Features of Hebrew Orthography (Spelling). a. Hebrew is written from right to left. b. Five of the letters have a special form used only at the end of a word: l/c, am, ]n, <]p, ys. c. In the earliest Hebrew and Phoenician inscriptions (10th cent. B.C.) no vowels were indicated in the writing. Thus the words melek (king), inolek (ruling), malak (he ruled), malkah (queen), mataku (they ruled), etc., would all be written simply as "pa mlk. From the ninth to the sixth centuries (i.e. pre-Exilic period, before the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. and the Babylonian Exile) the consonants "iand n h were used at the end of a word to indicate final vowels: i u' = u e.g. iDba mabku, they ruled « y = i e.g. oVn malki, my king n h = any other final vowel e.g. ro^n malkah, queen. In the post-Exilic period 1 and 1 were used as vowel indicators also inside a word, and values slightly different from those just cited were acquired: l w = u or o ' y = e, e, or i [XXIII] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW sounds and spelling] The letter n h was still used only at the end of a word as a vowel letter representing any vowel other than those just mentioned. The three letters ,i, and n in their function as vowel indicators are called matres lectionis (literally, mothers of reading), following traditional Hebrew grammatical terminology. d. The MT in general reflects this stage of orthographic develppment. There are, however, some inconsistencies and irregularities to be noted: (I) - and \ are sometimes missing when we should otherwise have expected them. The shorter spelling is called defective and the longer, full. Full yáqúm yärim gädôl BjT cn- Defective yäqüm he will arise yärim he will raise gädöl big Note that the only distinction between the vowels transcribed by u, it; i, 7; and 6, b is that the former of each pair is represented in the script by a mater lectionis while the latter is not. (2) A final a is not always indicated by n: tj1? hka (to you) jarort tiktobna (they shall write). (3) « is unpronounced in many instances, but is always an integral part of the spelling: fflti ros (head), k^d masa(') (he found). It does not, however, belong to the category of matres lectionis discussed above since its appearance is limited mainly to words whose roots occur elsewhere in the language with the « retained in pronunciation. We have generally indicated quiescent K in our transliteration. Sometimes, for the sake of clarity, we have added the ' in parentheses, as in masa(') above. Points (2) and (3) will be mentioned later in the section dealing with the grammatical forms in which these irregularities are commonly found. 9. The Daghesh The Masoretes employed a dot or point within a letter to indicate (a) that the consonant in question is doubled: "l^sn hammelek the king (b) that, in the case of the ambiguous letters n D D 13 a, the one with the point is the stop; the one without, the spirant: b or bb g or gg d or dd 3 b 3 g 7 d (c) that a final n is not to be taken as a vowel letter but as a morphologically significant consonant. Contrast [XXIV] m^a malka(h) a queen [n is a mater for final -a] FD!?a malkah her king [ S is part of the suffix meaning "her"] H33 banah he built [ n is a mater] naa gabefh high [n is a root consonant, pronounced in this case]* When the point indicates doubling, it is called daghesh forte (strong daghesh). When it indicates stop instead of spirant, it is called daghesh lene (weak d.). In a final n it is known as mappiq. The only use of daghesh where there is a possible source of confusion is in the bdgadkdpai letters. Technically we should expect two dagheshes when these represent doubled consonants, one to show the doubling (d. forte) and one to show b not b. But since the spirant values for these six letters do not occur doubled, a second dot is superfluous and never written. 10. The Vowel Points. Following their traditional pronunciation, the Masoretes added vowel points to the Hebrew text (see the Introduction). Because these points were superimposed on a text that already had a crude system for indicating vocalization, i.e. the matres lectionis, a large number of combinations were created (and hence the apparent complexity of our transliteration). The following table shows the form of the vowel signs and their position in relation to the consonants (here 3 b and n h): Name of Sign Plain pdtah a ba qames 3 bä or bo hireq a bi (or 67) sere a, be sagö I a be holem 3 bö qibbus 3 bu And the reduced vowels: 3 ba With mater , y 'a bä (rare) ■■a 6; *a bé -3 bé With mater With mater 1 w n h (final only) — — ns bäh 13 in bô bU n a beh M3 beh na böh (rare) n ha n hě n hö Remarks: (I) In the case of defective writings, where 1* or u is meant but there is no y or w in the text, the vowel signs for i and u are used. The vowel 1 (3) is * It is doubtful that every n with mappiq is to be given a consonantal value |h]. The distinction betweenro'M (queen) andro^other king) was probably a graphic and not a phonological one. [XXV] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW called sureq. Note that the reduced vowels aid are represented by a combination of the sign for a and that of the corresponding non-reduced vowel. The names of the reduced vowels are sawa (our Shewa), hct\ep pdtalj, ha\ep sagol, and lu'uep games respectively. (2) The distinction between — = a (qames) and — = 0 (qames ha(up) is usually clear: — = o in a closed, unaccented syllable (e.g. 'iati> somri', 7W yosmad), but — = a elsewhere. There is ambiguity when a following consonant is pointed with —: should, e.g., id "pa be read tnafoku or molkul To resolve this ambiguity, a metheg is used (see §11), (3) When a consonant closes a syllable (except at the end of a word), the Masoretes placed beneath it the Shewa sign: "SiVa mal-ki (my king). For the beginning student this constitutes one of the1 biggest problems in reading Hebrew: when does the sign — represent the vowel 3 and when does it represent nothing (i.e. end of a syllable)? The answer to this question is not simple; in fact there are several schools of thought on the subject among the traditional Hebrew grammarians. Since it is completely immaterial to the understanding of the language and to translation, we shall not enter into the dispute, but rather adopt the following simple conventions: (a) When two Shewa signs occur under consecutive consonants (except at the end of a word), the first represents zero and the second a: yistnani (not yisamru or yisamaru). (b) When a preceding syllable has any one of the long vowels («[«, 0/0, ijt, eje, e, a), the Shewa sign represents a: inpirt hiiqamu they were established "D~p boraku they were blessed Tjirir yashnaka he will place you 'TT yeradu they will go down nnniy sutatdh she drank (see §11) But after any other vowel it represents zero: V]PL? limka your name 'obn malice kings tfifflzr yismorka he will watch you But under the first of two identical consonants the Shewa sign always represents the vowel s, regardless of the type of vowel in the preceding syllable: •"V^S sjlale shadows (not silli). (c) The Shewa sign under the first consonant of a word always represents a: rr3 bavadd in his hand SOUNDS AND SPELLING] [The various forms of the number two (fern.) are the only exceptions: P'ŕuff štáyim -TW Sté] (4) The glide vowel a (see §6) is represented by -- placed under the final guttural but pronounced before it: vavšamô"'; naiĽ šämiŕh. It is traditionally called pátah furtivum. (5) The vowel sign Iwhin may coincide with one of the dots differentiating šín and sin; printed texts may vary. E.g. Kt?a näšô' (to lift); W3 bôš (ashamed). (6) The coincidence of a mater y and a consonantal * y is frequent: n»-)33 itokriyáh (could also be transcribed as nokriyyäh) (7) The consonant 1 at the end of a word always has a shewa sign if it has no other vowel; thus ^7 klk (to you f.) but tjV bkä (to you m.). (8) In the rather rare situation where a final syllable of a word closes with two consonants, e.g. wayyebk (and he wept), the sign shewa is placed under both: Tjp!]. 11. Metheg. The metheg is a short perpendicular stroke placed under a consonant and to the left of the vowel sign (if any). It serves several purposes in the orthography, of which the following are the most important: (1) Since the vowels a and e are regularly replaced by s in open syllables two or more places before the main stress, their appearance in such positions may be regarded as anomalous. They are usually marked with metheg: "■SJK 'aiwki I '^Dna beraktani you blessed me (2) In fact, any long vowel occurring two or more syllables before the main stress may be so marked, although manuscripts are inconsistent in this. Compare iNihn hosa' save! ,3J5,E'iri host em save me! This usage is particularly important with the vowel —, which is a short vowel 0 [d] in closed, unaccented syllables and a long vowel a elsewhere. The metheg is used with — = a in any doubtful position to ensure the correct reading: 'jSirP yabarakeni he will bless me (not yaborkhii). [Another device used in a word like the one just given to ensure correct reading is to point with — instead of —: •■ii^T yabarakeiu This is an irregular use of it for a, since the consonant under which it appears need not be a guttural.] [XXVI] [XXVII] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW (3) Short vowels before the main stress usually occur in closed syllables. Whenever the contrary occurs, the vowel may be marked with metheg: ihsjp ta'amod she will stand i^rm 'ohold his tent. This last example, with = o, would seem to cancel out the usefulness of metheg for distinguishing between the two values of — mentioned above. Actually, this is not often so, since — = a is very rarely followed by — 6 in the next syllable, but rather by ^- a: e.g. nna baharu (they chose). (4) Metheg with a short vowel in what appears to be a closed syllable indicates that the normal doubling of the following consonant has been given up: D,l?J"ian hamraggalim (the spies) for □,17n'?? hamimraggolim. In this book metheg will be used consistently only with to mark, the distinction between the o and 5 values of the sign. Thus ri"?DK 'akalah she ate n'joK 'oklsh food It is also employed sporadically to alert the reader to a syllabic division that might otherwise escape his notice. INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW [XXVIII] LESSON J [Read §§/-J o/" the section "Sounds and Spelling," pp. xv-xviii] 12. The Noun: Gender. Nearly all Hebrew nouns belong to one of two grammatical categories called gender: masculine and feminine. Nouns denoting animate beings usually have grammatical gender corresponding to natural gender (sex), but there is otherwise no clear correlation between gender and meaning. For example in liar (mountain) is masculine, while nsnj gih'uh (hill) is feminine. There are some formal indications of gender: nouns ending in -oh, -c[. and -at are nearly always feminine, such as Nouns without these endings are usually masculine, but there are important exceptions, such as Gender should therefore be learned for each noun, since it cannot be deduced safely from form or meaning. In the vocabularies of the lessons all nouns ending in -ah, -et, and -at are to be taken as feminine and all others as rt^Pp nurfkah queen r.a hat daughter DVi da'at knowledge rnftpn tip'eret glory ]2K \'ben stone (fern.) T» '/r city (fern.) ■p& 'eres earth (fern.) [1] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW LESSON i] masculine unless there is a remark to the contrary. Typical listing will be r\m iSšäh ■m däbär woman word f$g 'eres earth quarrel Vavt (d) Form the plurals of the following nouns, using the ending indicated: ISO péger (■im) corpse "ébed (-im) šéqel (-im) shekel V* mélek (-im) qéber (-im) grave nan däbär (-im) yěled (-im) m zuqěn (-im) 'esem (-m bone TA dérek (-im) tie 'eben (-im) stone népeš (-ôt) soul nďar (-im) "H.ö (jeder (-im) room nähär (-ôt) 3"jft héreb (-ôt) sword VO] LESSON 2] (e) Give the Hebrew for the following orally: |. man, men, the men, in the men 2. woman, women, the women, in the women 3. king, kings, on the kings 4. cider, elders, on the elders 5. house, houses, near the houses 6. book, books, in the books 7. city, cities, in the cities (f) Translate: j. ha'anasim ba'tr. 2. hannasim babbayit. 3. hammelek woha'abadim bahekal. 4. hassaparim babbayit. 5. 'ayyeh hanna'arim? hanns'arim bassadeh. 6. 'epoh habbattim? habbattim baLir. 7. 'epoh hannsharot? hannoharot sam. S. lie'arim sam wahadderek poh. (g) Write in Hebrew: 1. The men and the women are in the city. 2. The king is in the palace. 3. The women are here. 4. Where are the young men and the servants: 5. The books arc in the city. 6. The cities are near the rivers. ,TS3 ETtWSn 1 .n:|a Dttfan 2 ."jyna n^asrn pán 3 .rráa onösri 4 .rnú>a B*"jSŠD .tr-isan rra 5 .TS3 n-nan .o'riari nb's g .ne iiírii dií> nnari e lesson 3] LESSON 21. The Definite Article (concluded). When a word begins with the syllables ya- or mo-, the definite article is usually fl ha- without the doubling: q—iV yalädim Ik) va'or d,1?J1!? nwraggsliin O'lh'Ti haylcidim the boys "itrri hay or the river, the Nile d^j-ian hamraggjlim the spies Note that in these words the prefixing of the article occasions the loss of a syllable in pronunciation: hay-la-dim, not ha-ya-la-dim. Exceptions to the preceding rule occur when the second syllable of the noun begins with B ' or rt h: n-nrr vdhüdim triirrri hayyahfidim the Jews, Judaites Several words have a slightly different form with the article. The following are the most important: "in eres har 'am ja gan "is par in hag li-lH "awn yiítn hďares "írm hähär Pin hä'äm |Sn haggän "is n happär im hehäg ji-iNřj hä'ärôn earth, land mountain people, nation garden steer, ox feast, festival box, chest, ark [12] Note that in "rnrt hdhdr the form of the article does not follow the rule given in the preceding lesson. 22. Adjectives. Adjectives agree in number and gender with the noun they modify. Unlike the noun, where gender need not be related to form, the distinction between masculine and feminine in the adjective is clearly and uniformly marked: masc. fern. SINGULAR ait; tôb (good) naiü tôbah PLURAL craiB (ôbim niaiD fôbôt Adjectives of two syllables with a in the first syllable show a change in the stem before the endings of the fern. sing, and of the plural. The d is replaced by 3 (as described in §5 above): Vila gddol tr1?™ gaddlim Dan hdkdm craars hakdmim nbiia gaddldli ni^ni gadolot naan liakamah riiaan hdkdmdt The forms of qafon (small) are unusual in that there is a different stem before the endings: |Bj? qatön niü[? qatannäh B'atjp qafanmm niaop qsfannot Monosyllabic adjectives, a relatively small group, show the following typical forms. The principles underlying the change in the stem will be discussed in a later lesson: an rab rtan rabbdh cran vabbim man rabbot IB mar rna mdrdh ana mdrlm rrnn mdrdt Vi rai' nyj ra'ah erin ra'im riiUT ral6t 1» 'a: nis 'az-ah era 'azzim niiy 'azzdt n hay rrn hayyah p^n hayyim nvn hayyot dai n'jn t/a//a/p a,!?,i dallim ri^i aW/cr Adjectives ending in -eh have the following forms: ns; ydpeh ns? ^opo/i D'p; ydpim nis; ropot riui[? qdseh niffft ^oao/i d*u>i? gaiiHi niu>pT much, many bitter evil strong living poor beautiful hard, difficult Other types of adjectives will be commented upon as they occur. 23. The Use of Adjectives. Adjectives occur in two functions, attributive and predicative. By attributive is meant an adjective which forms a phrase with the noun it modifies, and this phrase as a whole has a single function in the sentence. For example, [13] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW in I read a good book, good modifies book and the phrase a good book is the object of the verb read. The attributive adjective in Hebrew follows its noun and agrees with it in number, gender, and definiteness. 3io iľ-k "iš [ôb ľňon ěsxn liä'íš ha\\ôb D-giu o-tMN 'ánäšim \óbim fi'aittíj O'OTKrt luTúnäšim hanobím n2ia niľx 'iššáh 0bäh naierj rrotn hä'iššäh hauôbäh niaio tristo »äí/»i /ôAôr niaion tnán hannäšim hauôbôi riMif n1 v gadôläh rťmarj TSa táVr haggadôläh ničila B'is 'ärfwj gxjôlôi CTsn he'ôrítn haggsdôlôt a good man the good man good men the good men a good woman the good woman good women the good women a great city (f.) the great city great cities the great cities Note that the adjective agrees with the gender of the preceding noun and not with its ending. A juxtaposed noun and articleless adjective usually constitute a predication, the adjective being taken as the predicate and the noun as the subject. In the predicate function the adjective may stand before or after its noun subject. There is agreement in number and gender, but the predicate adjective does not, by definition, have the definite article: eŕKn aiu 0b Im'iS j 3iD ií/ikri hä'iš (Ôb j nrán nniB (ôbäli haiššäh j nairj nmn hä'iššäh \ôhäh j rriMřtri rraiu 0bím luľänäšťm O'rán niaiD 0bôt hannäšim The man is good. The woman is good. The men are good. The women are good. A series of adjectives may occur in either function: naioni n'ri-nrj l^sn ha'ir haggaddlah w,ihat0bah the great and good city naiui JiVba "Vsri ha'ir gaddlah wafobah The city is great and good. An adjective may be modified by a prepositional phrase in the predicate usage: avb -rsn ruio \6bah ha'ir la'am The city is good for the people. When a subject noun is indefinite, there is a chance of ambiguity: naiu nran good wisdom or Wisdom is good. This is uncommon and can usually be resolved from the context. [14] lesson 3] Adjectives may be used as nouns (i.e. in noun functions) in two ways: (I) the adjective, usually with the definite article, may mean "the one who js...," as CDnrr hehakum the wise one, the wise man; (2) both the masc. and fern, singular forms of some adjectives may be used as abstract nouns, "that which is____" as snn hfira' or runrt hura'ah, evil, wickedness. 24. Vocabulary 3. Nouns: nan in UTS 1? Adjectives: aiu m no; »n Adverbs: Tka dabar (pi. -im) word, matter, thing, affair rff'ab famine 'eres (pi. -at) land, earth (f.) liar mountain 'am people, nation gan garden 0b good gddoi great, big qd0n small, little, unimportant yapeh beautiful, handsome rd evil, bad, wicked im'bd much, very (follows the adjective it modifies, as in isa 3iD fob im'dd, very good) Exercises: (a) Give all four forms (masc, fern.; sing., pi.) of the following adjectives: vnift qados holy pirn rahoq distant ailp qiirob near (b) Give the Hebrew for the following orally: 123 käb'ed Has same' ttbti Sälem heavy thirsty whole, sound 1. the good man, the small man, the evil man 2. the large city, the small city, the evil city 3. the beautiful woman, the small woman, the good woman 4. a good boy, a big city, a small field, a large house 5. in the city, in the large city, near the large city 6. in the great palace, near the large river 7. cities, the cities, in the cities, in the great cities 8. men, the men, the evil men, in the evil men 9. women, the women, concerning the evil women 10. land, the land, the great land (c) Translate: 1. hä'iššäh rä'äh ms'od. 2. hú' yäpeh. .im nsn rroxri i .no1 Nín 2 INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW 3. ha'is waha'issah yapim mo'od. 4. 'ayyeh ha'anasim hattobim? ha'anaSim hattobim bii'ir haqqatannah. 5. 'epoh hanna'ar hara".' hu' babbayit haggadol. 6. 'ayyeh hammelek? hu' bahekal haggadol. 7. ml tob? tobah ha'issah hayyapah. 8. haddabar tob ma'od. 9. gadol hara'ab ba'ir. 10. ha'abadim ra'im ma'od. 11. hazzaqenim 'esel habbayit. 12. he'arim haqqatannot 'esel hannahar haggadol. (d) Write in Hebrew: 1. The women are very beautiful. 2. The city is very large. 3. The house is near a small field. The men and the women are on the road. The large houses are in the city. The women are wicked. The matter is unimportant (lit. small). .d-aicn criMsri rrx 4 .naopn Tin iraiun d^jkh .inn isjin ns-s 5 Misn rraa «in .bran ba-na Kin .ns;n nmn naiü .aiu -a 7 .nxa aiu la-rn 8 .-r»a asr-in Vi-ia 9 .ixa d"S"j □■'Tasn 10 .rván bxk d^pn 11 in?n ^asň: niaujpri o-\vt\ n .bran 8. The small garden is near the road. [16] LESSON 4 [Read §7 in die section "Sounds and Spelling," pp. xxi-xxiii] 25. Noun Plurals (corn1.). Nouns of two syllables whose lirst syllable is either closed or contains an unchangeable long vowel and whose second syllable has either a or e form their plurals in two ways: the first syllable remains unchanged, but in the second e is reduced to a, while a is generally retained. The following nouns illustrate most of the important types: (a) with a closed first syllable: pl aswa mispät ^Nbn mal'ak nam mizbťh □'tísitía inispät im judgment D'DxSa mařákím messenger ninara mizbahót altar (b) with an unchangeable long vowel in the first syllable: a:.k 'oyěb |na höhen aaia kókáb ba'n hekal □^3?it 'öyabim O^na kähanim D'aaia kökäbim D^DTi hikälim enemy priest star temple A special situation is encountered in a few words such as soa ih'itw kissě' Dnia '/win? nixoa kis'öt blind (adj.) throne [17] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW in which the doubled consonant of the singular is simplified in the plural with the resulting loss of a syllable: not 'imratfm, kisss'dt. Such irregularities will always be noted in the vocabularies. 26. The Active Participle. All verb forms and most nouns in Hebrew can be analyzed into at least two parts: a root and a formative vowel pattern. In the group of words in a baruk blessed (adj.) tj"t(3» mabarek blessing (verb) borak he was blessed Tia berek he blessed nana borakah blessing (noun) the sequence of consonants BRK carries the basic notion of "bless." Such a sequence is called the root of the forms given above. Note that the root is a grammatical abstraction from the given words and not vice versa; that is, because a root has no existence apart from its incorporation into words, it leads to misunderstanding the nature of language to say that the words are derived from the root. The pattern of vowels associated with a given word may or may not have a specific meaning of its own. For example, from the words melek (king), malkah (queen), malkfit (kingdom), malak (he ruled), homlak (he was made to rule), etc., we may certainly abstract a root MLK having to do with kings and ruling. Nevertheless, we cannot find any but the most meager support for taking the word melek as the root MLK plus a meaningful formant pattern e-e (as one who does what the root specifies). The vowel pattern e-e is not a norma! one for the formation of agent nouns. But consider the following set of words: ana koteb writing rjbrr hoiek walking, going 3?" yo'seb sitting TV yored descending The vowel pattern o-e is a regular one for the formation of the active participle with roots of the triconsonantal type illustrated. Thus, while it is always analytically legitimate to isolate roots and formative patterns, one must exercise caution about assigning specific meaning to the latter. We shall begin our study of the Hebrew verb with the participial form mentioned above. The participle is in nearly all respects an adjective so far as its syntax and inflection are concerned: masc. fern. rour yošébet trair yošabtm niasŕ yôšdhôt sitting The first vowel is unchangeably long; the vowel of the second syllable is e [18] lesson 4] and therefore changeable. Note the feminine singular form with -ex and a corresponding change in the vowel of the final stem syllable; the form PPBr vdsabah is also found, but less frequently. The participle may be used attributively, anan iřNn haiš hakkôičb the writing man or the man who is writing or predicatively, ana i^Kn ha'is koteb The man is writing. These differ in no way from the adjectival syntax of the preceding lesson. The participle, both as an attribute and as a predicate, usually indicates a continuing action, one in progress, and is best translated with the English progressive tenses. Tense, as in the adjectival sentences of the preceding lesson, must be gained from the context. The participial sentences in the exercises should be translated in the present tense or in the immediate future (he is going to..., he is about to...): nbYT. ntr? jna utkh ha'is noten lehem laddallah The man is giving (is going to give) bread to the poor woman. 27. The Object Marker -nN 'ex-. When the direct object of a verb is a definite noun (i.e. has the definite article) or is a proper name, it is usually preceded by the object marker tin 'et-(or, without maqqep, m 'et): minrrnx "inip irari ha'is somer 'et-hattorah The man is observing the Law. TJT" ns arm Dsn ha'am 'oheb 'et-Dawtd The people love David. But if the object is indefinite, it is not marked: na^r aria w\xr\ ha'is koteb dahar The man is writing a word. nK may be repeated before each member of a compound object: nisarrnxi nninrrnx xn0i □"'iMNn ha'anasim soimrim 'et-hattorah wa'et-hammiswot The men are observing the Law and the commandments. 28. Vocabulary 4. Nouns : ooii sopet (pi. -frit) judge -jKba maFak (pi. -im) messenger, angel Koa kisse' (pi. irreg. rrinoa kis'dt) throne Verbs: ana koteb writing [19] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW Vss 'dkel eating ini noten giving, setting, placing ijjjfl holik going, walking afr yoseb sitting, dwelling, inhabiting Prepositions: m 'et or -ns 'ei- direct object marker (see §27) b Is- to, for (in dative sense); as 'el- to, toward (motion or traversing of space usually implied, but often synonymous with b Is-) "rsa bs'ene in the eyes of, in the opinion of, as far as — is concerned Exercises: (a) Form the plurals of the following nouns: "iDD soper (-im) scribe T»m mo'ed (-im) appointed time miskan (-im) tabernacle 333 gannab (-im) thief \r\bui "sidhan (-or) table unpa miqdas (-im) sanctuary (b) Give the Hebrew for the following orally: the judge is sitting the king is writing the boy is going the woman is giving 5. the messenger is going 6. the man is giving 7. the slave is eating 8. the woman is going (c) Pluralize each of the items in the preceding exercise. E.g. the judges are sitting, etc. (d) Transform the items of exercise (b) into noun + modifier, as "the judge who is sitting," etc. (e) Translate: 1. hassöpef nölen 'et-hasseper lä'is. 2. hä'iäsäh yösebet wa'ökelet babbdyit. 3. hä'änäsim hötakim 'el-hahekäl haggädöl. 4. hammelek yöseb wsköteb basseper. 5. hammal'äkim hölakim 'el-hahekäl. 6. ra' haddäbär ba'ene hä'äm. 7. hanna'ärim hötaktm 'el-hannähär. 8. hammelek yöseb 'al-hakkisse' bahekäl 9. ha'äm yöseb bä'äres haggadöläh. .rraa nVaki r\2vr rtiran 2 10. hä'is wahä'issäh yösabim bä'ir härä'äh. 11. hassöpstim höbkim 'el-hannähär. .ipsa arjrn ^än a .^avirrVN o^zibh D,DN1?Bn 5 .□rn -i:nn »1 6 .Va-'na «osn-1?» aur ijVän b .nVi™ yi&a a©1 am a .n3J-irr -rya caur rtirarn vrxn io 120] p haylädim yosablm 'esel hannähär haqqäfön. 13. hü'köteb'et-haddabärim 'al-hasseper. 14. 'epöh yösaböt hannäslm? 15. töbim hä'äbädim ba'ene hammelek, lesson 4] .ftpn -lrsarj □■nc' a-iVn 12 .HDÖn-Vs D^rnrrnN ana «in n .croan maw1 nb'K m (f) Write in Hebrew: 1. The boys are going to the city. 2. The slaves are sitting near the small houses. 3. The boy is giving the book to the man. 4. The man and the woman are living in the garden. 5. The men are giving the small field and the garden to the king. 6. The people are dwelling in a good land. [21] lesson 5] LESSON ^ [Read §§5—P in the section "Sounds and Spelling," pp. x.xiii-xxv] 29. The Prepositions a ba-, b h-, and 3 ka-. The form of these three prepositions is determined by the first consonant or syllable of the word to which they are prefixed: a. If the noun begins with the syllable J ya, the anticipated forms *baya, *taya, and *kaya are replaced by hi, It, and ki: affflv ysruSaldim Jerusalem q'rorva birusaldim in Jerusalem nbwrrb linisalaim to Jerusalem P^otts kintsdldim like Jerusalem b. If the noun begins with any other consonant followed by a, the prepositions have the vowel i: bNint? samiCel Samuel VNiaiff? bismuel in Samuel ^Kini?1? lismuel to Samuel ^Ninra kismu'el like Samuel Note that the a of the noun is dropped in pronunciation: bis-mu-'el, not bi-sa-mu-el. c. If the noun begins with a guttural followed by a reduced vowel {a, e, or <)), the prepositions have the correspondihg full short vowel: [22] ntbn halom a dream nsx 'emet truth □iVrn bahdlom in a dream rraNa be'emet in truth mbnb lahalom to a dream nwb le'emet to truth triVns kaiuilom like a dream nato ke'emet like truth rr}N 'oniydh a ship rriKa bo'dniyah in a ship, etc. d. Before words stressed on the first syllable (thus mainly monosyllabic words) the prepositions arc optionally vocalized with d. Instances of this rather restricted form will be noted as they occur. e. As we have staled previously, these three prepositions combine with the definite article, which loses its initial n ft. The vowel of the article remains unchanged. f. Aside from the special circumstances given in the preceding paragraphs, the prepositions occur simply as a ba-, b la-, and 3 ka-: t173 ha'lr in a city "ij^as kamelek like a king vrnb b'is to a man. 3(1. The Preposition ]ti inin. a. Before the definite article this preposition may have either the form d me-, which is joined directly to the following word, or |» min-, which is usually joined to the following word with maqqep: from the king min-hammelek or mehammelck. irrjn T7::n?p b. Before nouns beginning with a guttural or r, the preposition takes the form n me-, joined directly: t» 'fr a city ctn ro(')s a head T»n me'ir from a city wfriD meroC)s from a head c. Before all other nouns the form is a mi + the doubling of the first consonant: •]b§ melek a king ^ban mimmelek from a king. The sequence miyya- is commonly contracted to ml-, as in rnirra mihudcth (for * miyyahudcth) from Judah. 31. The Comparative. The adjective is not altered in form to express the comparative. Instead, the preposition ]n min's used before the noun which is the basis of comparison. [23] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW "irana nan BftCT haii hakam mehanndLar The man is wiser than the boy. Other sentence orders are possible and not unusual: rnvana nwRn rtB; vtf/Ja/f huissah mehanna'urah The woman is more beautiful than the girl. The same construction may be translated "too... for:" w'Nnn niiasjn n»j? qasdh luTabotlah mehu'is The work is too hard /be the man. The choice between the comparative and "too" translations depends on which makes the better sense. 32. The Relative Word Tm '{tier. Unlike English, the prepositional phrase in Hebrew does not commonly stand next to a noun as a modifier. Thus, while we may speak of the book on she table or the fountain in the park, where on the table and in the park modify book and fountain respectively, in Hebrew such modification is more frequently introduced by the word ~rox 'aser, which is usually the equivalent of the English relative pronouns who, which, and that. T»2 iok i^sn hafts 'Ctser ba'ir the man in the city, or the man who is in the city flfta ~i^"K Dsn ha'am 'user ba'ares the people in the land, or the people which is in the land. The word -iu>n 'user is not affected by the gender or number of the antecedent: Vrrrn lira n»Kri hu'issdh 't'iser bahekul the woman in the temple. -\m 'user is not commonly employed before adjectives or participles. Thus, English the man who is wise is simply Dsnn ha'is hehakam, or □Dnri hehakam alone. The man who is sitting is aw'rr i^xn ha'is hayyoseb. The participle may be used alone, even without the definite article, as an equivalent of English one who, anyone who, whoever, he who: naxa "]Vn holek be'etnet he who (or whoever) walks in truth. 33. Vocabulary 5. Nouns: am -ahab gold naan hokmah wisdom ^03 kesep silver, money rnias? Labdddh work, task, servitude (cf. 'ebed) ilSfl 'esah counsel, advice [24] Adjectives: Proper Names: "01 Other: 1" lesson 5] yaqar precious yasar just, upright saddiq righteous qaseh difficult, hard, harsh rasa' evil, bad, criminal Dawid David somit'el Samuel Yarftsdldim Jerusalem [Note that in the Hebrew spelling the second , is missing. This spelling may point to an early dialectal variant pronunciation Yarusalem] min- (prep.) from; also used partitively: D^attna mehaandsim, some of the men. 'user (rcl. pronoun) who, which, that Exercises: (a) Prefix the preposition a bs- to the following words, first without the article, then with it. Example: kesep, bakesep, bakkesep. D^a maldkim trfr yaladim □•-ias 'abddim crann darakim crns Larim criaa na'arim o'-nn hadarim naix 'ddamdh rrax 'dniyah (rooms) (ground) (ship) (b) Give the Hebrew for the following orally. Use the adjective in the masculine singular form. 5. worse than the men 6. more precious than gold 7. more just than the king 1. better than the boy 2. larger than the house 3. larger than the river 4. smaller than a field (c) Give the Hebrew for the following orally. Then transform them into phrases using 'user. Example: The city is in the land ha'ir ba'ares 1. The boy is in the large field. 2. The words are in the book. 3. The woman is on the road. 4. The gold is in the temple. 5. The silver is in the house. (d) Translate: 1. ysqarah hokmah mizzahab- 2. qasah ha'abodah meha'anastm. the city which is in the land ha'ir 'aser ba'ares .arija nnan rnpt; l .critiaxria rniavn rrapr t [25] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW 3. yasarim ha'abadim mehammslakim. 4. Dawid yasar ma'od. 5. hu' noten hokmah lammelek hayyoseb 'al-hakkisse'. 6. ra'im haddabarim 'aser basseper. 7. (obah hokmah mikkesep. 8. yasarim ha'anasim. 9. Dawld waha'Snasim yosabim birusalaim. 10. mi saddiq missarnu'cl? 11. ha'esah ra'ah ma'od. 12. 'ayyeh haysarim wahassaddiqim? (c) Write in Hebrew: 1. The king is giving the gold and the silver to the men who are in the palace. 2. Wisdom is more precious than silver. 3. The messengers in Jerusalem are very bad. 4. Samuel and David are just and righteous. 5. The task is too difficult for the boy. 6. The field is larger than the garden near the house. 7. The judges are more evil than the kings. .cra^ana triasn □""w: 3 .im -ro; in i atřn -phb naan |pi Kin 3 .naôa "tok o~n"Tn o-»n < .^oaa naan naitJ 7 .d-waitn o,,to' 8 ďroiTa d'atr B'tógni "rn n .■jKiaca p-75 'a 111 .180 ns-j nsart 11 jjvnrai wis 12 LESSON ^ [Read §10 in the section "Sounds and Spelling," pp. xxv-x.xvii] 34. Noun Plurals (cont.). There are, in general, two types of monosyllabic nouns in terms of changes in the plural stem: (a) those with no change, and (b) those having a doubting of the final consonant: (a) šíV širim song DID SÚS D-'DID súsim horse niK % niniR 'ôtôt sign tn däm damim blood r» 'es itsb 'ěsim tree (b) as 'am D-as 'ammim people To lies msti hissim arrow pn hóq °7!n huqqim statute Note the following particulars: (1) Nouns with the stem vowels a, f, 0, and usually a do not alter the stem before the plural ending. (2) Nouns with stem vowel e behave in one of two ways: (a) the stem is unchanged, as in Les - 'esim (b) the final stem consonant is doubled and e is replaced by /, as in lies - hissim. (3) Nouns with a are similar to the above: [26] [27] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW (a) When the final stem consonant is a guttural or r, the stem vowel is "lengthened" to a, as in har-harim. (b) Otherwise the final stem consonant is doubled and the stem vowel remains the same, as in 'am - lammim. (4) Nouns with the stem vowel o usually follow the pattern of hoq ~ huqqim. Often, however, o is a defective writing for o, so that care must be taken not to confuse the type hoq with that of 'dt in group (a). Because of irregularities and minor unpredictable deviations, the plurals will be given with the singulars in the vocabularies. The following nouns are irregular in that the plural stems do not conform to the types just enumerated: lesson 6] DT ro(')s ydm ben 'fr 7s head day son city man plural: ens ra{')sim yamim banim 'arim 'anasim 35. Participles (eont.). When the second or third consonant of a verbal root is a guttural (x', s' , n h, R h) the forms of the participle are slightly modified. When the second consonant is a guttural, we find a for a in the plural stem: pas sd'eq d*p5?3 sd'aqim crying out npjte so'eqet TftpV% sd'aqot When the third consonant is an v ' or n the feminine singular has a instead of e in the last two syllables: rna bdre"h O'rna bdrshim fleeing rrria bordhat rvirna borahdt When the third consonant is N ', which is not pronounced when it would close a syllable, the fern. sing, has e: Nip qdre' 0"K1p qors'im calling ntnp qore(')t niN-ip qdra'dt 36. Vocabulary 6. Nouns: ^ip qdl (pi. -6t) voice, sound; baqol gddol: aloud, in a loud voice yj? Kes (pi. tree, wood Q"i.3 Wffffl (pi. -im) vineyard Verbs: pi7s so'ea crying out (in distress) nbyi sdle'li sending sui note" planting NS' yds? going forth, leaving [28] Other: nnri fd/wt (prep.) under; instead of »3 Id (conj.) because, since, for; that 3*1 rob (adj.) much, many, numerous (forms in §22) Exercises: (a) Give the Hebrew for the following orally: 1. The old man is going forth. 2. The woman is planting. 3. The judge is sending. 4. The people is crying out. 5. The servant is going forth. (b) Pluralize each of the sentences in (a). (c) Translate: 1. ha'anasim nots'im 'esim rabblm 'al-hahar. 2. hanna'ar yoseb tahal ha'es *aser baggan. 3. gadolim ha'esim "aser beharim meha'esim 'aser 'esel hannahar. 4. 'ammim rabbim yosabim ba'ares ki ha'ares (obah ma'od. 5. ha'am so'aqim bsqol gadol ki qasah ms'od ha'abfidah. 6. mi yose' min-ha'ir hara'ah? 7. ra'im haddsbarim ba'ene hammelek hayyasar. 8. ha'issah yose(')t mehabbayit. 9. ha'abadim no^'im kerem qa(on 'esel hassadeh. .-inrrVs p,3*i_ trss D'ypi o-'fjsn 1 .]aa itt'S yan nnn ai?1 -wan 2 □"Sinn Dnna lira D'ssn a-'1?™ :t •~™n bsS "ton y-iSn -a □-a©-' d-'a-i d*hs i .tfffi rniu iNa nwp ,3 "7113 Vipa a-pss narj 3 .nTiasrj .risnn Tyrr]a -a n .niff'n -^an T»a d'-iain dti 7 .rrano nN:r n»Nri 8 .niffln Vsft ppT tna p'spi !l (d) Write in Hebrew: 1. The king is sending the messengers to the judge who is in the city. 2. The people are going out of Jerusalem because the famine is very great. 3. Who is crying out in the house? 4. The vineyard and the garden are near the house. 5. He is sitting under a large tree, 6. The men are good, but the servants are bad. 7. The servants are better than the messengers. [29] lesson 7] LESSON [Read § 11 of the section "Sounds and Spelling," pp. xxvii-xxviii] 37. Predication of Existence. In order to state that something exists, Hebrew employs the word up yes, commonly translated "there is (are)." ups Er yes is nwK itp yes 'issäh epeun yes 'imäsim There is a man. There is a woman. There are men. There is no change in the word for number or gender of the object predicated. The negative expression, for non-existence, is pN 'en: urx pK 'en 'is nyit pN 'en 'issäh There is no man. There is no woman. This sentence type figures largely in expressing possession: r|p|i lift 'en la'is kesep The man has no silver. not*1? ira bp yes 'is la'issah The woman has a husband. In the preceding lessons we dealt with sentences having an adverbial predicate. All of the examples used, both in the lesson and in the exercises, had definite nouns as subjects. When one constructs a similar sentence with an indefinite subject, such as "A man is in the house," we find that this is virtually equivalent to the existential sentence "There is a man in the house." [30] Thus, the sentences expressing existence and those having adverbial predicates are sometimes identical: subj. definite rraa erwi ha'iS babbdyit sUbj. indef. rvaa utk £>: yes 'is babbdyit rraa iztk ps 'in 'is babbdyit The man is .., A man is ... There is a man .. No man is... There is no man 38. The Prepositions a b b-, and ~m 'et- with Pronominal Suffixes. When a personal pronoun is the object of a preposition, it is appended as a suffix directly to the preposition: 'b // to me ^ bkci to you (m. s.) •f? lak to you (f. s.) ib Id to him nb Iah to her K*? lauft to us □ab lakem to you (m. pi.) [jab taken to you (f. pi.)] □ri1? lahem to them (m. pi.) ]7Ö lühen to them (f. pi.) Here, as elsewhere in the language, a distinction between genders is made in the second person as well as in the third. There are thus four Hebrew pronouns corresponding to English "you." The preposition a bs with suffixes is exactly like the above. An alternate form oa bam for ana bahem is also used. The pronouns as objects oT the verb may occur as suffixes on the object marker, as follows: 'nk 'oil me ^nk 'ötskä you (m. s.) ■qnK 'ötäk you (f. s.) ink 'ötö him nnk 'ötäh her unk 'ötdnü us Q?nK 'etkem you (m. pi.) [T?n$ 'elken you (f. pi.)] onk 'ötäm them (m. pi.) ink 'ötän them (f. pi.) The 3rd pers. pi. forms also occur as onnK 'ethem and jnntt 'ethen. Some examples of usage: sn1? "b in: ursn hd'is ndien lanu lehem The man is giving (to) us bread. "ICO "\ pN 'en li kesep I have no silver. TJ& anb ur. yes lahem melek They have a king. VHrrbN Drik nbtf ttV&t! hammelek sole"h 'dtdm 'el-ha'ir The king is sending them to the city. [31] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW 39. Vocabulary 7 Nouns: ]N2 Verbs: Adjectives: Particles: Exercises: so(')n (no p!.) a collective term for small cattle (sheep and goats) ~\p2 buqur (no pi.) a collective term for large cattle (bulls, steers, cows, etc.) bm gonial (pi. irreg. crb'ai gamallim) camel anb lehem (no pi.) bread, food descending, going down rich poor w yes there is. there are |"S 'en there is not, there are not yd red T TPS 'asii bl dal (a) Give the Hebrew for the following orally: 1. I have a_ 2. She has no_ 3. We have no. 4. The man has no wife. 5. They (m. pf.) have_ (house, garden, field, vineyard) _. (husband, slaves, money, books) __(king, judge, city, camels) (small-cattle, camels, gold, silver) 6. There are no trees on the mountain. 7. There are many houses in the city. 8. There are many messengers here. 9. He is sending us. 10. He is writing to us. 11. He is giving us bread. 12. He is dwelling in it. 13. She is sending them. 14. She is planting it for them. (b) Translate: 1. 'ěn 'iš yošéb 'al-hakkissě'. 2. yěš séper šíim. 3. 'én šópět yášar ba'ir. 4. hammal'akim yoradim měhahar ki 'én láhem lehem šam. .KBSn-Vs ZUT IP'N |'S i .dip npó Bř 2 tmh i'N *j -irina tírff n-oxbipn 4 .am onb há'aširim nótanim lehem ,otf D^iei'n u^bib anb Tani D'Tiitorj laddallim hayyóšabim šám. 6. ha'anasim yosa'im min-ha'ir waholakím 'el-háhar. 7. hannaším yosa'ot meha'ir wayóradót 'el-hannáhár. Tsrrja D-,ii?aNri .irurrVK niTVi Tsrta nixs' cronn [32] (O g. yěš lánů báyit gadól wagan qa(on. 9. mi ha'anasim hahólakim 'el-ha'Ir? 10. hayládim yošabím wa'okalim bakkérem. ] |. hú' 'ašir mo'od; yčš lo késep wazáháb. lesson 7] .|Uj? ]}) bm rra n*? & a .Tsrr1™ DoVhrj trimn ■'a 9 .did? crVpNi craw'' tP'fffi ki .arm f]pa iV bp .-ma "vojs Km n Write in Hebrew: 1. The king has no city and he has no land. 2. Where are the young men sitting and eating? 3. The rich have bread but the poor have no bread. 4. The poor are crying out because they have no food. 5. The judges are sending the books to the king, for there are many good things in them. 6. The king is sending me to the judge because he has a difficult problem ( = thing). 7. There are many camels here. [33] LESSON 8 40. The Demonstrative Adjectives and Pronouns. Singular masc. nt zeh fern. masc. Tern. this nut Sfi'CU tnis Kin mi írn lit that that Plural rŕpk 'elleh these art hern those rnn hťnnuh those These words have a usage parallel to that of the adjective. niri Erxri /ic'/s hazzeh this man nstn riffiKri ha'issah hazzd(')t this woman n^ijtri □"'ii'JHri ha'anaUm ha'elleh these men n^ftri criitfn hannasim ha'elleh these women mnrj u^xn /70'fs /?«/»'/' that man irnrt mPKri ha'issah hahf that woman onri QTOKn ha'anasim hBhem those men nifjn D'wjri hannasim hahennah those women The demonstrative stands last in a series of adjectives: np aim ursn ha'is hat fob hazzeh this good man nttin nnien niffKri ha'issah hatfdbali hazzd(')t this good woman The form without the article has the status of a pronoun (compare the use of the predicate adjective): lesson 8] tzrsn n; zeh ha is nrárí nsi z&(')t Ha'issah □nann nbb 'élleh haddabavim This is the man. This is the woman. These are the words. Note that agreement in number and gender is present, as with the adjective. 41. Participles (cont.). masc. fern. rui bôneh cna bônim n: a bônäh nija bônôt (n';a boniyäh) The final n /; of the form rua boiu'h is a mater teetionis for the final vowel and is not a third root consonant. The root in this class of verbs must be considered as variable in form, sometimes BN-, sometimes BNY. Note that the feminine lias two forms in the singular; either may be used, but boniyah is quite rare. 42. Vocabulary 8. Nouns: wa bhuih understanding, perceptiveness pT$ sedeq righteousness (cf. saddiq) WX 'es (no. pi.) fire (f.) N'aj nahf (pi. -im) prophet Verbs: nia boneh building n^ii 'oleh ascending, going up Vsa nope! falling Exercises: (a) Give the Hebrew for the following orally: 1. this famine 2. these houses 3. that city 4. this money 5. that task 6. this advice 7. these cities 8. these mountains 9. those peoples (b) Transform the phrases of (a) into sentences according to the model: this famine This is the famine, (c) Translate: 1. dal hannabi' hazzeh wa'en ló lehem. 2. ha'anasim ha'elleh 'olim 'el-hehárim. 3. hannabi'im hayšárim hóbkim basedeq. •on1? i1? fijij K"nan bi 1 .p7$a crztbh an^n QNi'San a [34] [35] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW 4. bináh wahokmah tóbót mizzahab. 5. ha'es nopélet 'ai-habbáyit 'ašer 'ésel hahékál. 6. ha'anasim boním báyit gadól ba'ir hahi'. 7. ra'Im ha'am kí 'ěn lahem binah. 8. hú' šólěah lánů nabi' saddiq. 9. 'ěn mélek birúšáláim. (d) Write in Hebrew: .arijn rvmö nnarn rn-a .| .sTjn rva Vlij n?á tria trimn n .nra an1: rs "3 asn D-sn 7 t tt i *• tt - t .p-H^ iraj tí| n^Eř Nin a 1. These camels are mine (lit. to me) and those camels are yours. 2. You have no understanding. 3. He is going up to the cattle which are in the mountains. 4. She is falling. 5. The boys are building a small house near the garden. 6. The people are dwelling in this land because it is great and beautiful. 7. He is placing (lit. giving) fire upon that wicked city. [36] LESSON 43. The Perfect of ana katab. There are two full verbal inflections for person, number, and gender for each Hebrew verb. The first, called the perfect, is formed by adding subject suffixes to a relatively fixed stem, as illustrated by ana kätab -nans kátábti he wrote I wrote. The second, called the imperfect, uses a different stem and has person, number, and gender marked by both prefixes and suffixes, as in any yiktoh he will write niafon tikttbnah they (fern, pi.) will write. We shall begin our study of the verb with the perfect, the full inflection of which is as follows: ana kmab nana ká&bah nana kmábul nana kätabi 'nana kčuábti he wrote she wrote you (m. s.) wrote you (f. s.) wrote I wrote larra kätobü they wrote you (m, pi.) wrote you (f. pi.) wrote we wrote □nana kautbtem inan? katabien nana kcitdbnu The following particulars should be noted: (1) The traditional arrangement of a verbal paradigm in Hebrew begins with the third person and proceeds to the first. [37] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW (2) In the perfect, there is a distinction in form for gender in the second and third persons of the singular and the second person plural. The others, including the first person singular and plural and the third person plural, do not reflect the gender of the subject. (3) The endings given in the paradigm above arc standard for nearly all the verbs in the language. Many variations will be seen to occur in the stems of various verb types, but the endings themselves remain fairly constant. The 2nd pers. masc. sing, also appears with a final mater lectionis:r\Wih^ katdbtalt. (4) The stem of the verb kdlab changes in accordance wiih the shape of the suffix added: (a) Before the unstressed endings -id, -t, -ti, and -im the stem remains the same as in the third person masculine singular. (b) The addition of the endings -ah and -i/, both stressed and consisting of a vowel, opens the final syllable of the stem. Before these endings the second stem vowel is regularly replaced by (reduced to) a. (c) The endings -tern and -ten are always stressed. Because they begin with a consonant the second stem syllabic remains closed and unchanged. The first stem vowel, if in an open syllable as in the paradigm under study, is reduced to a. (5) When the final root consonant is the same as that which begins the suffix, only one letter is written, but with daghesh forte; thus, from rna (he cut) we have "B^a kdrdtti (I cut), and from ]3tf ( he settled), sdkdnnu (we settled). Verbs whose roots contain a guttural consonant, or whose roots have other phonological peculiarities, such as that of bdneh, deviate from the paradigm given above and will be dealt with in the following lessons. Verbs whose roots have no phonological peculiarities are sometimes referred to as "sound" or "regular" triliteral verbs. 44. The Meaning of the Perfect. We shall see in the course of this book that the translation value of Hebrew tenses is very largly dependent on the kind of sentence or clause in which the verb is used. In the isolated sentences of the following exercises there are only two or three values possible for the translation of the perfect: (1) With all verbs, regardless of their meanings, the Hebrew perfect may be translated as the English simple past (! wrote) or the present perfect (I have written). (2) With verbs signifying perception, or the attitude or disposition of the subject toward an object, rather than a direct action performed on the object, the perfect may be translated by the general present tense: [38] LESSON 9] inarm 'dhdbti I love (or, as above, I loved, have loved) viST yddd'ti I know (or, I knew, have known). (3) With verbs signifying the mental or physical state of the subject, and which consequently do not occur with a direct object, the perfect may be translated by the English present of the verb "to be" + an adjective: "riJjPT zdqanti I am old (or I have become old, I grew old) (4) Rarely in prose, but rather frequently in poetry and proverbial expressions, the perfect is used to denote habitual activity with no specific tense value. Such uses are translated by the English general present (I write). 45. Word Order in the Verbal Sentence. The verb usually stands first, then the subject, object, and various adverbial elements in- that order. nr-mrrnK w-Nri -pi zakar Wis 'et-haddabdrim The man remembered the words. 1dd3 -n-rrrns KTNn ans kutab hd'is 'et-hadddbdr basseper. The man wrote the word in the book. It is by no means unusual to find the subject or some other element before the verb, but such sentence order is often conditioned by interclause relationships (taken up below) or by emphasis on the element which is placed first. The verb agrees in person, number, and gender with its subject. Pronominal subjects are inherent in the verb form itself. e'l3'™"™! zakar 'et-lmdddbdrim He remembered the words. d'l^lij'nN r\~o\ zakdrdh 'ei-hadchbarlm She remembered the words. d-nnirrnK 7\mn rnat zdkardh ha'iskah 'et-haddabdrim The woman remembered the words. The particle -ns 'et- is used before definite objects, as previously explained. The perfect is negated with «V Id', which is always placed immediately before the verb: "i^rrnN 'nnit N7 Id' zdkdrti'et-hadddbdr 1 did not remember the word. The indirect object, always marked by the preposition la-, tends to precede the direct object when the former is pronominal and the latter nominal: [39] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW TONn-nx ft jra ncttan 16 %et-haissah He gave him the woman. Otherwise, direct object + indirect object may be considered the normal order: mtivh i1? ank |pa natan 'otah 16 blssah He gave her to him as a wife. vrnb niffKrrnK jra ndtan 'et-hd'issdh la'ti He gave the woman to the man. 46. The Forms of the Conjunction i ira-. Like the prepositions ba-, la-, and ks, the conjunction 111,7- (and) differs in form before various word beginnings: (a) Before a labial consonant a b, a p, or d m, its form is i wj Arfi'/f a house nb pö/; here D'6 mdyim water rp§3 »Mi'ft and a house nsi üpöh and here iimdyim and water (b) Before a word beginning with ; p., the conjunction and the first syllable of the word contract to *i wl-l rrarp yalmdüh Judah D$»T yada'tem you knew FI-TWfn ii'/VHfrfä/? and Judah BfsT1 wida'tem and you knew (c) Before a word beginning with any consonant (except < v) + 3 the form is 1 • Ulc Samucl ^Pfflfl and Samuel (d) Before a guttural + a, «?, or 6, the conjunction is respectively 1 wa-1 ive-, or 1 wo-: 1 - ' nisiN 'äräsöt lands QiK *5rföm Edom s .antn-nm ^oari-nx nsaj> -a1? g 1. He gave wisdom and understanding to the prophets. 2. They sent the gold and the silver to the men in the temple. 3. This work is very hard because we have no understanding. 4. Today the men arc building a house in the city. 5. Where did they write those words? 6. I remember that he gave me the book. 7. There is evil in this place. 8. One of the women is leaving the city. [42] LESSON 48. The Perfect of Verbs with Guttural Root Consonants. The presence of guttural consonants in the root of a verb occasions slight modifications in the inflection of the perfect. All of these are simple and predictable variations, with the exception of roots whose third consonant is N (hereafter designated simply as verbs Ul-Aleph)whose inflection will be considered separately from those given here. 3 m. s. 'dmad ina bahar sdma' 3 f.s. 'amadah rnna baharah nyaH soma'ah 2 m. s. rrnijj 'dmddtd rnna balidrta sdmd'td 2 f. s. 'dmadt rnna baharl {sdma't) 1 s. ■rnfey 'dmddti bdlidrti sdmd'ti 3 pi. nay 'dmodfi 'ina baharu isnw sama'u 2 m. pi. °niai! 'dmadt em ornna bahar tern sdma' tern 2 r. pi. 'dmadten baharien sama'ten 1 pi. 'amddnu unna hahdrnii us6b? samd'nu In verbs I-gutt. (i.e. whose first root consonant is a guttural) the only variation from the standard paradigm is the replacement of a for a in the 2nd pers. pi. forms. This replacement should by now be familiar to the reader " Most Hebrew grammars employ the letierss.s, and H to designate the first, second, and third root consonants respectively, Thus, our ni-.-f/e/>/i corresponds to the more usual designation Lamedh-Aleph. [43] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW from previous examples. The same is true for verbs II-gutt., where we find a for a in the forms baharah and baharu. The only form in the paradigm of.soma' (IILgutt.) that requires comment is na&©, which, as it stands, is anomalous. It is likely that such spellings were meant by the punctators to show an option: we should read either nsfttj sanid'at, ignoring the daghesh, or riydffl sama't, ignoring the second a. 49. The Perfect of |ru natan. This verb has a peculiarity in its inflection: the second n of the stem is always assimilated to the initial consonant of the subject suffixes. Note carefully the following forms; the daghesh is forte, indicating doubling. lesson 10] jna natan lie gave nam natandh she gave nfn natdtta you (m. s.) gave nna natatt you (f. s.) gave 'nna natdtti I gave una nôtami they gave Dnna natattem you (m. pi.) gave |nna mtatten you (f. pi.) gave lana nätánnú we gave 50. Noun Plurals (continued). (a) Dissyllabic nouns with the sequence -ayi- show a regular contraction in the plural stem: TŔ zúyit olive tree 'áyil ram pi. DTP.! □"TN ■étim 'éľim The noun bdyit (house) is irregular: o-fia battim. Note the a in a closed unaccented syllable; this is virtually unique with this word. (b) There are many nouns of two syllables whose singular and plural stems are identical. These include nouns both of whose syllables are not susceptible to the changes presented in the preceding sections dealing with the noun. Examples are pax 'ebyon poor "rial gibbor warrior P'lS saddiq righteous man tibb 'ammud column pi. D-aŕaK 'ebyonim aniaa gibbôrím B'j?"!? saddiqim tnw» 'amnutdim Note that both syllables of such nouns are either closed or contain an unchangeable long vowel. (c) A small group of nouns ends in -eh in the singular. Although this is not a suffix, but an integral part of the root word, it does not occur on the plural stem: pi. mlfe šädôí niana mahänôt rn.tt1 sddeh field nana mahaneh camp Nouns originally participles of verbs Ill-Mi (i.e. whose third root consonant jS given as n) also belong to this class: nan ro'eh, pi. B"»i rd'im, shepherd. 51. Vocabulary 10. Nouns: "liaa gibbor (pi. -im) warrior, hero, valiant man naai gib'ah hill B* mdyim water [Like bt&ip, a plural without a singular] nana mahaneh (pi. -ol) camp nanVa milhdmah battle, war ns pari fruit Verbs: nna bdhar to choose [May take object with -ns 'et-, but more commonly with a ba: "anna bdhar hi he chose me.] Tin hdrag to kill, slay ST yadd to know upb Idqah to take laa 'amad to stand Preposition: "as1? lipne before, in front of, in the presence of Exercises: (a) Inflect in the perfect: f?r\ bz>x pais (b) Give the Hebrew for the following orally: 1. They planted many trees. 2. She stood near the houses. 3. You chose me. 4. They did not choose you. 5. I look the money. 6. They killed the young man. 7. You (f. s.) took the water. 8. You (m. pi.) have eaten the bread. 9. We sent the messengers to the judge. (c) Translate: 1. nata'ti ha'anasim kerem gadol .nsaan-^v Vna Dlf a^axn woa i 'al-haggib'ah. 2. 16' yada'ti ki liu' harag .sraarrnx inn KM *| 'fl»^ rf? 2 'et-hannabi'. 3. 'amadu ha'abadim haresa'im .T??rj -aD1? &2f]i) a'VW 3 lipne hammelek. [44] [45] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW 4. baharti baka lamelek 'al-ha'am haggadol hazzeh. 5. napalu gibborim rabbim bammilhamah hahi*. 6. yes mahaneh ben-hannahar Qben-heharim. 7. mi salah 'otaka 'el-hammaqom hazzeh? 8. ml harag 'et-ha'anasim ha'elleh? 9. laqahah ha'issah mehappari wanatanah 'oto la'is. 10. baharu ha'am 'et-Dawid lahem lamelek. .njn Vharr um-bv rf?6b ?\a wfta 4 .irnn nan^aa d'st aniaa i^sa 5 .a-"inri-Tai "irian-pa nana G .njn Diparr'jK rfctf 'a 7 .rrVftri n-tmrrnH a->n -a 8 .i^x1? ins nanai nsna nssn nnpj? 9 ."fW? onV in_ns Dan una 10 (d) Write in Hebrew: 1. He planted a tree in the midst of this garden. 2. They cried out in a loud voice because of this hard work. 3. They chose for them(selves) a land and dwelt there. 4. The men took the gold and silver from the temple. They also slew the prophets who (were) there. 5. She knew that those words (were) very bad, 6. One of the young men fell in that battle, 7. They gave me bread and water, but I did not give them the money. [46] LESSON 1 52. The Perfect of Verbs IH-AIeph: ksb masa'. H3a masaO he found nKsa masa'ah she found nK^a masa(')ta you (m. s.) found nnKSD mio m&$a('H you (f. s.) found iriKisa 'rutin masa(' jti 1 found «nSa WXB masa'u they found masa{')tem you (m. pi.) found masa{')ten you (f. pi.) found masa(')nu we found In verbs Ul-Aleph the second syllable of the stem in the perfect has a instead of a in those forms to which a suffix beginning with a consonant is added. In other words, whenever K originally closed a syllable, it was lost and the lengthening of the vowel took place as a consequence. The * is preserved when it begins the syllable, as in masa'ah and musa'u. Remember, however, that the S is always found in the spelling, even when not pronounced. Note too that there is no daghesh lew in the n of the suffixes, since they are now preceded in pronunciation by a vowel instead of a consonant. 53. Noun Plurals (continued). The majority of feminine nouns in -ah show no change in the stem before the plural ending: nau? sanah year pi. wvb Saturn rnirt tor ah law ni-rin torot nax 'ammah cubit niaN 'ammot 7D"ia barakah blessing niana bardkot [47] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW lesson 11] nana bahemäh beast nman tabü'äh product n^sn tapilläh prayer nriDipo mispähäh family niana bahemöi niman tabuöt ni'pDri lapillöi ninDwa mispähöt But nouns of the general pattern CvCCdh.' like na^a malkah (queen), where the two contiguous consonants are different (thus not 'ammcih above), have a different plural stem: naVa malkah queen nsraa gib'ah hill nsnrr herpah reproach But note mxa miswdh, pi. nisa miswot, where the n is a prefix and not part of the root. pi. riafrtt msläköt [Note the a.] nijraa gabaot nisnn iuiräpöt 54. Interrogative n ha-. Any sentence may be converted into a question by prefixing a form of the particle q ha- to the first word: Iran ntyn häsälah hä'is... Did the man send ... ? f-Jlin naiürt häiöbäh ha äres Is the land good? Before gutturals the form is normally n to-: trapi nayn ha'ömed hä'is Is the man standing? But if the guttural is followed by ä or o, the form used is n he-: $7-$? he'äkähä Have you eaten? Before non-guttural consonants followed by a the form is also n Ac-: nnaron hak(a)tabtem Did you write? Rarely one encounters the same doubling of the following consonant that we met in the definite article: Dnanan hakkatabtem Did you write? 55. More on n©N 'aser. We saw above (§32) that ifX 'aser indicates that a following phrase modifies as a unit the preceding word. This is true also for clauses, as the following examples show: * C = consonant; v = a, i, e, o. [48] nain'HH ana *im ]nan hakkbheti 'aser katab 'et-haddabar the priest who wrote the word l^art nba* new ^n1??^ hammal'ak 'aser salah hammelek the messenger whom the king sent 56. Vocabulary 11 Nouns : Verbs: way rrv aa-is 'm njip rrjw Nxa ana snp -ia« Conjunction: imb Exercises: semes sun yare"h moon fco&ad (pi. -?/») star 'auaii cloud barakah (pi. -or) blessing .swra/r (pi. -rm) year rora/r (pi. -or) law, The Law masa to find barii' to create <7«ra' to call, name; to summon; to declare, read aloud l+'el: to call unto (someone); + la: to summon (someone)] 'amor to say, speak le{')mbr introduces a direct quotation after verbs of saying; it has no translation value in English) (a) Form the plurals of the following nouns, as described in §53: nsu nns sarah (-or) distress rbvi 'olali (-or) burnt-offering npyn nrua mini.iah (-of) gift, offering n'jat? n^is 'eglah (-or) heifer nans nbbp, qalalah (-or) curse nVina nVrja masillSh (-or) highway nVia nabaa mamlakah (-or) kingdom 'esa/i (-or) counsel huqqah (-or) statute simlah (-6t) cloak 'arabah (-or) desert, steppe batulah (-or) virgin magillah (-6t) scroll (b) Give the Hebrew for the following orally. Then convert each into a question by prefixing the appropriate form of n ha-: 1. He stood before the king. 2. They slew the warriors in the battle. 3. You (m. pi.) knew that the city (was) on a hill. 4. I took the fruit. 5. You chose us. 6. We have no water. 7. The rich man has large cattle and camels. [49] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW 8. You went down to the river. 9. You (m. sing.) ate the bread. (c) Translate: .wnrj nsóa tfa|n ana Tg$ Dnrnn n^iS i .|t>jpn iVrj-nx msa kVi t'sn-Vx raVn 2 .n>1>3. nTm ora tsto*n .otí rn»n-oai Q^Swa ito*n 3 .o,&^ trai D'aaia si; nWroi 4 .tran Dnia? iVm icnn na^a 5 .Dsn -as1? lay tj?k "ji-n jas 5 .nnn-VK tiŕNrrnx nn^ipn -inn1? -rjVón iV i»k 7 .mfttfrrnK una 'ai pŔrrnN una ^ a .na "ton onrnn D-aiui n-iinn nait> 9 .|jsn ■qina «?ip ks; 10 .nynn Tyna nnxs'n 11 •Ql?"|a« cTJin iŇa ibxb Viia "?ipa Dyrr1™ (rafá ssqp r (d) Write in Hebrew: 1. He created the sun, the moon, and the stars. 2. Did you find the book in the house? 3. Did he say to them that (kl) the law is just? 4. This blessing is for us and for those who dwell in the midst of this people. 5. The cloud stood over the earth. 6. Where did he find the small cattie? 7. The king summoned the prophet, but the prophet did not go to the palace. 8. Have you (m. pi.) remembered this law and the words which 1 have written in it for you? [50] LESSON 57. The Perfect of Verbs Ill-He: naa bänah. nas báiuih he built nnaa bänatäh she built jvia bänhä you (m. s.) built rvla bäiu't you (f. s.) built •jvia bani 11 I built wa bämt they built lD"?a «■«S3 bmhem you (m. pi.) built banhen you (f. pi.) built bttnhm we built Note that the stem vowel in the first syllable behaves quite normally. The stem itself is variable (bonah, banal-, bam-, bani-, ban-), and we must again point out that the n of the 3rd masc. sing, is not a real root consonant but a mater lectionis for the final vowel. It is convenient, however, to follow traditional grammar and to speak of this class of verbs as Ill-He. When a verb Ul-He is also I-gutt., the regular substitution of 0 for a is found in the 2nd pers. pi. forms: Drr'MJ 'alitem you (m. pi.) went up ]lf?2 'aliten you (f. pi.) went up The verb n;n hayah (to be) is inflected regularly as a member of this class'; only the 2nd pers. pi. shows a slight peculiarity, with e for a: nrrn heyitem you (m. pi.) were 58. Directive n - -ah. The suffix -alt added to a noun indicates motion toward. It occurs on both proper nouns and common nouns, the latter with or without the article. [51] INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW This ending is never stressed and may thus be distinguished from the feminine ending -alt. Because directive -ah cannot be added to all nouns, each form is best learned individually, without a lengthy analysis of the minor changes that take place in the stem. The following list contains the most important of the words using this suffix: 'eres land, earth 'drsdh to the earth, to the land, onto the ground bäyit house habbdytdh | to the house, home nrra bdytdh 1 har mountain haharah ) to the mountain, n-jn herdh 1 mountainward tain midbär wilderness rir~Ta*Tä midbardh toward the wilderness Tl? "ir city iiT&n hd'irdh toward the city top sämäyim heaven hassdmdymdh heavenward misrdyim Egypt nir'ixa misrdymah toward Egypt □Vit yantsä!ä(}>)im Jerusalem na^t ydrusald{y)mdh toward Jerusalem asjj negeb Negev (the southern part of Palestine; the south in general) nail! negbah toward the Negev, southward bkp "sa'dl Sheol (residence vfr&s sa'oldh to Sheol of the dead) Note especially its use on the directional adverbs: naft 'dnah whither? to what place (contrast rr.N ) n»i£ summdli thither, to that place (contrast af) nan heimdh hither, to this place (contrast ns) Similarly on the terms for the directions: pes sdpon north °lp. qedem east yrr\ teman south 0' yam sea, west niiax saponah northward naip, qedmdh eastward nafrn temandh southward no; yammah seaward, westward 59. Vocabulary 12. Special Note: The two most frequent designations of God in the OT are dtiVk 'elohim and hit Yhwh. (1) a^rpK is a plural word, generally construed as a singular. It may mean "gods" when used as a plural and "God" when used as a singular or a plural, with or without the article. (2) niT is the name of God. For pious or superstitious reasons mil" was [52] lesson 12] ead as TTK. 'ddonay (lit. my lords, my Lord). Just when this practice began is not certain, but it may predate the Christian Era. The Masoretes indicated this substitution by applying the vowel points of 'ddonay, slightly modified, nl;r, hence niT. The literal interpretation of this latter form as Yahdwdh = Jehovah dates from modern times. Both of these words behave erratically after the prefixed prepositions: the initial K is lost in pronunciation: Q-nVsa be(')lohim mrra ba(')donay D'rfrKb le(')l6him niT1? la(')donay enffKf ke(')lohim rnrra kaOdonay Those who wish to read niT as Yahweh, the most likely original pronunciation, must remember to repoint these prepositions as ba Yahweh, h Yahweh, etc. When the name TT occurs in conjunction with irm, the former is read as DTiVk and pointed niT... This is to avoid the repetition in reading 'ddonay 'ddonay. bark covenant, treaty (f.) hen grace, favor yastt'dh (pi. -6t) salvation, deliverance, victory simhdh (pi. -or) joy 'asah to do, make, act, perform, bring about radh to see karat to cut; T"ia nna to make a treaty nasa' to set out, travel, journey 'im with, together with ka like, as, according to :*i en Nouns: Verbs: Prepositions: Tia in ninar t : nnat? n?¥ nsn ma a WS -ns with, together with Note the idiom rrsa |n nsb as in Tjb6n 'rva ]n ifi xsa David found favor with the king. (or, The king became fond of David.) Exercises: (a) Give the Hebrew for the following orally: 1. On that day he made a treaty with the king. 2. The prophet grew fond of the boy. 3. A great sound ascended heavenward. 4. They went up toward-the-city with the people. 5. They built a house in that place. 6. Who did this evil thing? 7. Did you act according to the words which are there? [S3]