eTeacher BIBLICAL Online Language Academy Biblical Hebrew A Units 1-30 eTeacherGROUP Online Language Academy w w w . e T e a c h e r G r o u p . c o m Authors: Ohad Cohen and Sarah Baker Academic Manager: Ohad Cohen Graphic Design: Sarah Baker 2012 © All Rights Reserved eTeacher Ltd. 8 Oholiav St. Ramat Gan, 52522 Copying, photocopying, recording, translating, storing in database, transmitting or receiving electronically, optically or any other way, of the material in this book is strictly prohibited. Commercial use of any kind of the material included in this book is strictly prohibited under copyright law, unless written permission from eTeacher is granted. Dear Students, Shalom! Welcome! Hebrew is an ancient and fascinating language with a rich history. Learning Biblical Hebrew will enable you to read the Bible first hand in the language in which it was written. It will also enable you to grasp the meaning of the original text without needing to rely on a translation. During this first course you will learn the Hebrew alphabet and vowels, become familiar with the basic paradigms of Hebrew nouns and verbs and acquire 450 common Biblical Hebrew words. Ohad Cohen The grammatical topics will be learned within the framework of Curriculum Supervisor and famous biblical stories. Academic Manager This workbook is designed to accompany you throughout the units that make up your Biblical Hebrew course. eTeacherBiblical.com For each unit we have provided in the workbook the glossary of new Hebrew words you will be learning during that specific unit. All of the vocabulary words for the course are compiled in an Excel spreadsheet that is located in the “Homework and Extras” section of your online “Student Locker.” We’ve also added some selected slides from each unit, which appear in identical format in the online class session. Including these slides in the workbook will help you to adapt to the world of online education by giving you the opportunity to take notes in a written format. Giving you these slides in the workbook also enables your teacher to offer exercises that can be completed both over the Internet and on paper. After the glossary and slides for each unit, you will find your homework exercises. Answers for these exercises can be found in the unit files located in your “Student Locker” in the online campus. I would like to wish you an enjoyable and productive learning experience. Yours, Ohad Cohen eTeacherBiblical.com Helpful Contacts Customer Service [email protected] Technical Support [email protected] For More Info www.eTeacherGroup.com Table of Contents 1-30 No. Unit Name Unit Description 1 The Hebrew Alphabet: Then and Now 2 The Hebrew Alphabet, Continued The Hebrew Vowels Welcome! – After introducing ourselves, we will start to learn about the history of the Hebrew alphabet. We will discuss its relationship with the Latin alphabet and learn our first 8 Hebrew letters. In our second unit we will continue to learn about the Hebrew alphabet and cover the rest of it. At the end of the unit we will be able to recognize all 23 of the Hebrew letters. After learning the letters and consonants we will begin to learn about the Hebrew vowels. We will start with the history of the Hebrew vowels notation and get familiar with the first vowel, [a]. In this unit we will continue with the rest of the Hebrew vowels and learn about the vowels [e-i-o-u]. We can already start to read short verses from the story of the creation (Genesis 1). After discussing the Hebrew consonants and vowels we will learn how Hebrew marks gemination (doubling of a consonant) and how to divide words into syllables. We will also read and discuss verses from the story of the tree of knowledge (Genesis 3). Now, after we are able to read and pronounce the Hebrew sounds, we will turn to discussing the morphology of Hebrew words. We will start with the nouns and adjectives and learn about their basic forms and grammar. We will learn these issues while continuing the discussion on the story of the tree of knowledge (Genesis 3). In this unit we will go back a little to the realm of the sounds and learn about another vocalic sign, the 'Shewa'. We will discuss this sign within the framework of the story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). The question discussed in this unit is - how does Hebrew create words? We will learn about the Hebrew terms 'Shoresh' (root) and Mishqal (pattern). We will also read and discuss a few verses from the story of the flood (Genesis 6-8). In this unit we will complete the phonological part by learning a few more vowels: the short vowel [o] (qamatzqatan) and the reduced vowels. We will learn how to recognize them while discussing the story of Jacob’s dream (Genesis 28). 3 4 The Vowels E-I-O-U 5 The 'Dagesh' and Syllable Division 6 Nouns and Adjectives 7 The 'Shewa' 8 Hebrew Word Structure 9 A Few More Vowels Page 1 15 35 51 67 81 99 115 131 No. Unit Name Unit Description Page 10 The Definite Article 147 11 The Definite Article, Con't & Some Prepositions Construct Chains How does Hebrew mark the difference between “a boy” and “the boy”? This is the question that will we try to answer in unit 10. We will return to reading and discussing verses from the story of the creation (Genesis 1) and the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). In this unit we will continue to discuss some other aspects of the definite article. We will also learn how Hebrew combines the definite article with some prepositions, while discussing verses from the story of the tree of knowledge (Genesis 3). What is the difference between “a wood chest” and “a chest of wood”? In this unit we learn how Hebrew marks the “of” relationship. We will illustrate this relationship discussing some verses from Genesis. Plural Construct How does Hebrew mark the “of” relationship in plural words? In this unit we will answer this question. We will Chains also read and discuss the story of Cain and Abel I, you, he, she… In this unit we will learn about the Hebrew Independent independent personal pronouns. We will illustrate these Personal pronouns within the framework of the story of Cain and Abel Pronouns In this unit we will learn how Hebrew marks the differences Pronominal between: “my horse”, “your horse” and Suffixes “his horse”. We will also discuss how Hebrew symbolized the connection between the dove and Noah (Genesis 8). The question that we will answer in this unit is how Hebrew The Definite marks the difference between “THE son of Jesse” and “A Construct son of Jesse.” We will illustrate these constructions within the framework of the story of Hagar (Genesis 21). Why doesn't Hebrew need a verb in order to create a Nominal sentence? In this unit we will learn how Hebrew creates Sentences nominal sentences. We will also discuss what happened between Jacob and Rachel near the well (Genesis 29). In this unit we will meet different ways to create nominal Nominal Sentences, Con't sentences in Hebrew. We will demonstrate how the author of Proverbs 6:23 plays with nominal sentences in order to design a challenging proverb. 177 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 161 193 205 223 239 255 273 No. Unit Name Unit Description Page 19 Review: Ruth 289 20 Qatal Verbs 21 Translating Qatal 22 Translating Qatal, Con't 23 Review: Ruth, Con't 24 Yiqtol Verbs 25 Translating Yiqtol 26 Translating Yiqtol, Con't The goal of this unit is to slow down a little bit and to look backward to what we achieved until now. We will review the previous grammatical materials with the framework of the story of Ruth and Naomi (Ruth 1). How can the characters’ names illuminate the story? – This will be one of the questions that we will ask ourselves. After discussing Hebrew nouns and adjectives, in this unit we will start the third part of the first course – 'The verb'. We will learn about the morphology of the suffix conjugation called “Qatal“. We will see that there is a clear connection between the different persons and the independent pronouns. What is the meaning of the Qatal form, and how do we translate it into English? These will be the questions that we will ask in this unit. We will also learn how Hebrew marks the definite direct object. We will illustrate these topics using a variety of verses from the Bible. In this unit we will continue with the questions concerning the meaning and the translation of the Qatal form. We will discover how this form performs in different sentences and how Hebrew is different from English in this point. Why did Naomi want to change her name to Mara? What happened to Ruth and Naomi when they returned from Moab? These will be part of the questions that we will answer in this review unit. The discussion will enable us to review the previous units. (Ruth 1-2) The second verbal form that we will learn is the prefix conjugation called “Yiqtol“. In this unit we will learn how to recognize this form and how Hebrew marks the different persons in it. We will discover that also in this form there is a clear connection between the different persons and the independent pronouns. What is the meaning of the Yiqtol form, and how do we translate it into English? These will be the questions that we will ask in this unit. We will illustrate these topics using a variety of verses from the Bible. In this unit we will continue with the questions concerning the meaning and the translation of the Yiqtol form. We will discover how this form performs in different sentences and how Hebrew is different from English in this point. 301 317 331 345 357 375 391 No. Unit Name 27 Review: Ruth, Con't 28 29 30 Unit Description What is the semantic connection between the “resting place” and Naomi’s plans for Ruth? (Ruth 3:1) How is the author of the book playing with the connotations of the verbs 'to know' and 'to lay down'? These will be some of the questions that we will answer in this review unit. The discussion will enable us to review the previous units. (Ruth 3) Wayyiqtol Verbs The third verbal form that we will learn is the form Wayyiqtol. In the first part of this unit we will learn how to recognize this form. In the second part we will discover what the meaning of this form is and how to translate it into English. We will illustrate its usages using a variety of verses from the Bible. The fourth verbal form that we will learn is the form Weqatal Verbs Weqatal. In the first part of this unit we will learn how to recognize this form. In the second part we will discover what the meaning of this form is and how to translate it into English. We will illustrate its usages using a variety of verses from the Bible. “Where We've Been” is the name of our last meeting in this Where We've course. In this meeting we'll go back through the course and Been see the long way that we have come from our first unit until now. Now that we are able to begin walking through the Bible, it is the time to say: Shalom!, and see you in our coming course! Page 405 415 429 443 Hebrew Vowels* A Hebrew Reduced Vowel Short Vowel Long Vowel: Plain Long Vowel: Mater Lectionis E Reduced Vowel Short Vowel Long Vowel: Plain Long Vowel: Mater Lectionis Other ** Hebrew Transliteration Name Examples ă a hatáf patáh ַמ ֲח ָלצוֹת ā qamáts āh qamáts malé ma‘ămād Transliteration Name Examples ĕ e hatáf segól ē tsére ֱא ֶמת segól malé ֵאה ֶגּ ê eh ê ēh ə / -- patáh mahă lāsô t ֲמד ָ ַמע segól ’ĕmet gē’eh tsére malé shewá ִי ְשׁ ְמרוּ yišmərû * 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 Mesoretic system. ** The moving (pronounced) shewa opens a syllable, and the silent shewa closes a syllable I Reduced Vowel Hebrew Transliteration Name -- -i -híreq ִע ְב ִרי -- -- ‘ ib r î î híreq malé Transliteration Name ŏ o hatáf qamáts qamáts-qatán ō hólem ô ōh hólem malé Short Vowel Long Vowel: Plain Long Vowel: Mater Lectionis O -- Hebrew Reduced Vowel Short Vowel *** Long Vowel: Plain Long Vowel: Mater Lectionis Examples Examples ָתּ ֳא ָרם tο’ŏrām חֹם hōm *** The [ָ] vowel is only pronounced as the short [o] qāmāts-qātān when it appears in a closed unaccented syllable; in all other places, it is the long [ā] qāmāts U Reduced Vowel Hebrew Transliteration Name -- -u -qibbúts שׁ ְלּמוּ ֻ -- -- šulləmû û shúreq Short Vowel Long Vowel: Plain Long Vowel: Mater Lectionis -- Examples Unit 1 The Hebrew Alphabet Then and Now Unit Description: Welcome! – After introducing ourselves, we will start to learn about the history of the Hebrew alphabet. We will discuss its relationship with the Latin alphabet and learn our first 8 Hebrew letters. → New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 15 Unit 1 1 א Vocabulary Category Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English אָח ֵאם ’āh ’ah brother (m.s.) ’ēm ’em mother (f.s.) ַהר har har ֶל ֶחם léhem léhem bread, food (m.s.) ָהר ָנ nāhār nahar stream, river (m.s.) ַער ַנ ná‘ar ná’ar נֵר nēr ner ַעם ‘am ’am ֲא ָרם ֶאל ִמן ַעל ’ărām ’aram Aram (Syria) ’el ’el to, towards min min from ‘al ’al upon Negative Particle לֹא lō’ lo no, not Verbs אָמר ַ ָראָה ’āmar ’amar he said rā’āh ra’a he saw Nouns Proper Noun Prepositions m. = masculine f. = feminine mountain, hill (m.s.) young man, lad (m.s.) lamp (m.s.) people, nation (m.s.) s. = singular Note: All Hebrew words are accented on the final syllable unless otherwise marked. See this website for more practice with the Hebrew alphabet: http://hebrewverb.hul.huji.ac.il/newtest/pre_abc.html Unit 1 2 Slides from the Unit Unit 1 3 Unit 1 4 Unit 1 5 Unit 1 6 Unit 1 7 Grammatical Remarks In this unit, we meet the Hebrew alphabet for the first time. The Hebrew alphabet has a very long history. In fact, the Western (Latin) alphabet and the Hebrew alphabet have the same origin. The earliest form of this script that we have is from the Sinai desert and represents a Canaanite dialect of the 16th century B.C.E. The Proto-Canaanites developed their letters by drawing a picture of something that began with the sound they wanted to represent – e.g. water, which they pronounced “maym,” for the sound [m]; a fish, which they pronounced “digg,” for [d], etc. This script developed from Proto-Canaanite (ca. 1500 B.C.E.) to Ancient Hebrew (ca. 950 B.C.E.) to Classical Greek to the Latin that we use for English today. The two main historical changes we see are that the letters became more abstract (e.g. developing from a fish into a simple triangle) and/or turned 90° or 180°. In Units 1-2, we will learn the 23 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, all consonants. We will not learn these in alphabetical order; rather, we will group the letters according to their common features. In the charts below, there are five columns for each letter: 1. The Hebrew letter 2. The Hebrew name of the letter 3. The transliteration of the letter (i.e. how we represent the letter in Latin script)* 4. The Modern Hebrew pronunciation of the letter 5. An example of this sound in an English word * We learn the transliteration because unlike the pronunciation, the transliteration system distinguishes between every letter. Also, this is how Hebrew words will be transliterated in printed material, both in this course and in other Hebrew tools (e.g. commentaries) that you may use. Unit 1 8 The Letters ר-נ-מ-ל Hebrew Letter Name Transliteration Pronunciation English Example ל ם/מ ן/נ ר lámed mem nun resh l m n r l m n r light map new air • The “final letters” םand ןare the forms that the letters מand נtake at the end of a word. • The רis not pronounced like an English [r], but is more alveolar (pronounced with the tongue close to the upper middle part of the mouth). The Letters ע-ח-ה-א Hebrew Letter Name Transliteration Pronunciation English Example א ה ח ע álef heh het áyin ’ h h ‘ ’ h h ’ honor/uh*oh horse Bach honor/uh*oh • These four are known as the guttural letters, since they are pronounced in the throat. • The אis the glottal stop (brief cutting-off of the air flow) that is usually heard at the beginning of English words with a “silent [h]” (honor, honest), before most words that start with a vowel (apple, enter, in, open, up), and in the middle of the expression “uh-oh.” • The חsounds like the “ch” in the name of the German composer Bach, the Scottish word loch (“lake”), and expressions such as “lachaim!” or “chutzpah.” (The sign [h] technically represents a pharyngeal fricative in the International Phonetic Alphabet, though we pronounce the חtoday more as the uvular fricative “ch” described above.) • Even though in Modern Hebrew the עis usually pronounced the same way as the א, the original pronunciation was a more emphatic sound (almost like gulping) at the back of the throat. We’ll see in later units how this makes the עbehave differently from the א. • The א, ה, and עcan be silent in modern pronunciation when they appear at the end of a ָ , ָבּנָה, and ) ָשׁ ַמע. word (e.g. in words like ק ָרא Unit 1 9 Homework 1. Practice writing the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Read the letters aloud (using their names and/or their pronunciations with any vowel) as you write them. * The lower part of the starred letter should continue below the line. * Unit 1 10 2. Read aloud the Hebrew words on the left. Match them to their transliterations in the middle and to their definitions on the right. אָח ֲא ָרם ֶאל ִמן ַעל לֹא אָמר ַ ’ărām lō’ ’āh ’el ’āmar min ‘al to, towards brother no, not Aram (Syria) upon he said from 3. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the consonants of the appropriate word under each picture below. נֵר a) e) ֵאם אם ָהר ָנ ֶל ֶחם ַהר ַעם ַער ַנ b) c) d) f) g) h) Unit 1 11 ָראָה 4. Read the following Hebrew words aloud and transliterate their consonants into Latin script. ַחל ַנ ָה ַלם נָא ָח ָרה אַחר ַ ָמה אָמן ַ ָע ָנה n a h a l “nahal” __ā__a__ __ā__ __ā__ā__ __a__a__ __ā__ __ā__a__ __ā__ā__ Unit 1 12 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§5-6 = pp. 24-35) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§5 = pp. 18-33) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (XIII-XVI) Unit 1 13 Unit 2 The Hebrew Alphabet Continued Unit Description: In our second unit we will continue to learn about the Hebrew alphabet and cover the rest of it. At the end of the unit we will be able to recognize all 23 of the Hebrew letters. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 30 Unit 2 15 Vocabulary Category Nouns Number Verbs m. = masculine Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English אָב ’āb ’av אָדם ָ ’ādām ’adam ֶא ֶרץ ’éres ’érets ֶבּגֶד béged béged ֵבּן ַבּת יָד ֶלד ֶי יָם ֶמ ֶל ְך ֵעץ ֵשׁם ֶע ֶשׂר ָבּ ָרא ָק ָרא bēn ben son (m.s.) bat bat daughter (f.s.) yād yad hand (f.s.) yéled yéled child (m.s.) yām yam sea (m.s.) mélek mélekh king (m.s.) ‘ēs ’ets tree, wood (m.s.) šēm shem name (m.s.) ‘éśer ’éser ten bārā’ bara he created qārā’ kara he called f. = feminine s. = singular See this website for more practice with the Hebrew alphabet: http://hebrewverb.hul.huji.ac.il/newtest/pre_abc.html Unit 2 16 father (m.s.) man, humankind (m.s.) earth, land (f.s.) garment, clothing (m.s.) Slides from the Unit Unit 2 17 Unit 2 18 Unit 2 19 Unit 2 20 Unit 2 21 Unit 2 22 Unit 2 23 Unit 2 24 Grammatical Remarks In this unit, we learn the remaining letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the charts below, there are five columns for each of the letters: 1. The Hebrew letter 2. The Hebrew name of the letter 3. The transliteration of the letter (i.e. how we represent the letter in Latin script) 4. The Modern Hebrew pronunciation of the letter 5. An example of this sound in an English word The Letters פ-כ-ב Hebrew Letter Name Transliteration Pronunciation English Example בּ ב ךּ/כּ ך/כ ףּ/פּ ף/פ bet vet kaf khaf peh feh b b k k p p b v k kh p f bat cave keep Bach pen if • With the dagesh (the dot in the middle), these letters are pronounced as plosive consonants in which the air flow through the mouth stops completely. Without the dagesh they are pronounced as fricative consonants in which the air flow is only partly blocked. • The pronunciation of the ך/ כis very similar to that of the ח, but note that we use a different transliteration in order to distinguish between them. • The “final letters” ךand ףare the forms that the letters כand פtake at the end of a word. Unit 2 25 The Letters ת-ד-ג Hebrew Letter Name Transliteration Pronunciation English Example גּ ג דּ ד תּ ת gímel gímel dálet dálet tav tav g g d d t t g g d d t t good good dog dog tea tea • With the dagesh (the dot in the middle), these letters are pronounced as plosive consonants in which the air flow through the mouth stops completely. In the history of the Hebrew language, these three letters were probably pronounced as fricative consonants in which the air flow is only partly blocked, just as in the group above. But in the Modern Hebrew pronunciation, this original difference is no longer pronounced. (Note that we still distinguish between the transliterations with and without the dagesh.) The Letters י-ו Hebrew Letter Name Transliteration Pronunciation English Example ו י vav yod w y v y vine you • These two letters can also mark vowels, which we’ll learn in Unit 3. The Letters צ-ס-ז Hebrew Letter Name Transliteration ז ס ץ/צ • • Pronunciation English Example záyin z z zebra sámekh s s say tsádeh s ts cats The “final letter” ץis the form that the letter צtakes at the end of a word. Unlike in English, the sound “ts” of the צis a single consonant and can appear at the beginning of a word, just like any other letter. Unit 2 26 The Letters שׁ-שׂ-ק-ט Hebrew Letter Name Transliteration Pronunciation English Example ט ק שׂ שׁ tet qof sin shin t q ś š t k s sh tea keep say ship • There is no difference in modern pronunciation between the טand the ת, but we distinguish them in transliteration because these are two separate letters in Hebrew and were historically distinguished in pronunciation. • Note that the location of the dot at the top of the letter שis the only indicator of whether to pronounce [s] or [sh]. Below is a summary tablet of the entire Hebrew alphabet, organized in alphabetical order: The Hebrew “Alephbet” Pronunciation Key: a e eh i o u h * ́ [ɑ] as in “father” [ε] as in “let” [eɪ] as in “day” [i] as in “meet” [o] as in “open” [u] as in “boot” [x] as in “Bach” glottal stop (cutting off of the air flow) marks the accent in a two-syllable word Unit 2 27 Hebrew Letter Name Transliteration Pronunciation English Example א בּ ב גּ ג דּ ד ה ו ז ח ט י ךּ/כּ ך/כ ל ם/מ ן/נ ס ע ףּ/פּ ף/פ ץ/צ ק ר שׂ שׁ תּ ת álef bet vet gímel gímel dálet dálet heh vav záyin het tet yod kaf khaf lámed mem nun sámekh áyin peh feh tsádeh qof resh sin shin tav tav ’ b b g g d d h w z h t y k k l m n s ‘ p p s q r ś š t t ’ b v g g d d h v z h t y k kh l m n s ’ p f ts k r s sh t t honor/uh*oh bat cave good good dog dog horse vine zebra Bach tea you keep Bach light map new say honor/uh*oh pen if cats keep air say ship tea tea Unit 2 28 Homework 1. Practice writing the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Read the letters aloud (using their names and/or their pronunciations with any vowel) as you write them. * The lower part of the starred letters should continue below the line. * Unit 2 29 * * * * Unit 2 30 2. Read the following Hebrew words aloud, and transliterate their consonants into Latin script. ָה ַל ְך h ālak אָמר ַ __ā__a__ ָכּ ַתב __ā__a__ ָשׁ ַמע __ā__a__ ַתּ ַחת __a__a__ ָפּ ַרץ __ā__a__ ָשׁ ַכב __ā__a__ ָסף ַי __ā__a__ “halakh” Unit 2 31 3. Read aloud the Hebrew words on the left. Match them to their transliterations in the middle and to their definitions on the right. Part A: אָב ֶלד ֶי יָד ֵשׁם ֶבּגֶד ֶמ ֶל ְך ֶע ֶשׂר יָם šēm king béged father ’āb name mélek hand yām child yād sea yéled ten ‘éśer garment Part B: ֶא ֶרץ bēn tree ֵבּן ַבּת ֵעץ ָק ָרא אָדם ָ ָבּ ָרא ‘ēs man qārā’ son ’ādām he called bārā’ daughter ’éres he created land bat Unit 2 32 4. Transliterate the consonants of the words below into Hebrew. Read the Hebrew words aloud (using an [e] vowel between consonants) and find them in the word search. ‘ḗmeq šémeš ‘ésem béten négeb ‘ébed gézer ‘ḗśeb עמק __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ “’émek” __ __ __ __ __ __ Unit 2 33 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§5-6 = pp. 24-35) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§5 = pp. 18-33) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (XIII-XVI) Unit 2 34 Unit 3 The Hebrew Vowels Unit Description: After learning the letters and consonants we will begin to learn about the Hebrew vowels. We will start with the history of the Hebrew vowels notation and get familiar with the first vowel, [a]. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 45 Unit 3 35 Vocabulary Category Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English אוֹר ’ôr ’or ִאישׁ ’îš ’ish ָבּ ָשׂר bāśār basar גּוֹי gôy goy ָדּ ָבר dābār davar ֶדּ ֶר ְך dérek dérekh יוֹם ִעיר yôm yom day (m.s.) ‘îr ’ir city, town (f.s.) ָע ָפר ‘āpār ’afar tôb tov good, pleasing rā‘ ra bad, evil Preposition טוֹב ָרע ֵבּין bên ben between Conjunction ִכּי kî ki that; because; when ָה ַל ְך hālak halakh ָע ָשׂה ‘āśāh ’asa Nouns Adjectives* Verbs m. = masculine f. = feminine b. = both m. and f. light (m.s.) man, person, husband (m.s.) flesh (m.s.) nation, people (m.s.) word; thing; matter (m.s.) way (road, manner) (b.s.) dust, dry earth (m.s.) he walked; he went he did; he made s. = singular * Unless stated otherwise, all adjectives are given in the masculine singular form. Unit 3 36 Slides from the Unit Unit 3 37 Unit 3 38 Unit 3 39 Unit 3 40 Unit 3 41 Unit 3 42 Unit 3 43 Unit 3 44 Grammatical Remarks In this unit, we begin to learn about the Hebrew vowels. When Hebrew was first written down (10th c. B.C.E.), the writers only wrote the consonants. Because they didn’t write vowels, it would be difficult for anyone who wasn’t familiar with the text to know what words were written. Their solution to this difficulty was to add vowel letters, a process which happened in several stages: In the first stage (9th-6th c. B.C.E.), they only added vowels at the end of words. The new “vowels” were simply the consonants י, ו, and ה, which could now act at the end of words as the vowels î ()י, û ()ו, and āh/ēh/ōh ()ה. We call each of these vowels a “mater lectionis,” which is Latin for “reading mother” (the plural is “matres lectionis”). Just as a mother helps her child to read, so these letters help us know which vowels to read. In the next stage of Hebrew writing (after the exile of 586 B.C.E.), the matres lectionis יand ו began to be used inside words in addition to at the end of words. In this stage, יand וcan each represent more than one vowel ( = יî or ê; = וô or û). הcontinued to represent the vowels āh, ēh, and ōh only at the end of the word. It is important to remember that the mater lectionis system of vowel writing is not applied consistently throughout the entire Hebrew Bible, which is made up of many texts written at different times and in different situations. Therefore, we might see the same word written in one place with the mater (e.g. מר ֵ )שׁוֹand in another place without it (e.g. מר ֵ ֹ)שׁ. The scribes who copied the biblical text became concerned that their oral tradition of how to vocalize the text would be forgotten over time. In the final stage of Hebrew vowel writing (7th-9th c. C.E.), they developed a system of diacritic points to represent each of the vowels. This way, their oral tradition could be permanently recorded in more detail than the system of mater lectionis allowed. (There are several different traditions of how to vocalize the biblical text. The one most widely used is the Tiberian tradition, which was developed by the school of scribes in the city of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee.) Note that the addition of the diacritic system did not erase the previous system of mater lectionis. Part of what makes biblical Hebrew transliteration so complicated is that all of these systems now exist simultaneously, one on top of the other, and we want to be able to represent in Latin script exactly what we see in the Hebrew. Unit 3 45 The “A” Vowel A Hebrew Transliteration Name a ā āh patáh Short Vowel Long Vowel: Plain Long Vowel: Mater Lectionis qamáts qamáts malé • All “A” vowels are pronounced [ɑ] as in “father.” • The vowel sound under each letter is pronounced after the consonant. • Vowel names are written here as they are pronounced, not as they are transliterated. • It is customary in regard to 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 (length) played any important part in the original Tiberian tradition. In other words, even though we speak of “short” and “long” vowels, we don’t distinguish the length of the Hebrew vowels in our pronunciation. The length is important to note, however, because later it will help us to explain certain grammatical phenomena in Hebrew. Unit 3 46 Homework 1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the appropriate word under each picture below. (Write the [ ָ ] and [ ַ ] vowels where they appear, but ignore the rest of the vowel pointing.) טוֹב a) ָע ָפר טוב ִעיר ָה ַל ְך ֶדּ ֶר ְך ִאישׁ c) b) d) f) ָרע e) g) h) Unit 3 47 אוֹר 2. Read aloud the Hebrew words on the left. Match them to their transliterations in the middle and to their definitions on the right. ָבּ ָשׂר גּוֹי ָדּ ָבר יוֹם ֵבּין ִכּי ָע ָשׂה yôm he did / made bên flesh bāśār between gôy day ‘āśāh nation, people dābār that; because kî word; matter 3. Read the following Hebrew words aloud and transliterate them into Latin script. ָל ַקח ָבּ ָכה lāqah “lakah” ָהב ָז ַדּ ַעת ָצ ָבא ָהיָה גָּאַל אַחר ַ Unit 3 48 4. Write the Hebrew words represented by the following transliterations, then read the Hebrew words aloud. gam גַּם “gam” dāg ’āz bad māh ’ap nā’ śar Unit 3 49 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§7-9 = pp. 35-50) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§6-7 = pp. 34-50) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (XVII; XXV-XXVII) Unit 3 50 Unit 4 The Vowels E-I-O-U Unit Description: In this unit we will continue with the rest of the Hebrew vowels and learn about the vowels [e-i-o-u]. We can already start to read short verses from the story of the creation (Genesis 1). New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 60 Unit 4 51 Vocabulary Category Nouns Proper Noun Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation בּ ֶֹקר ָהב ָז ח ֶֹשׁ ְך bṓqer bóker morning (m.s.) zāhāb zahav gold (m.s.) hōš́ ek hóshekh darkness (m.s.) ֶכּ ֶסף késep késef ַמיִ ם ֶע ֶצם ֶע ֶרב máyim máyim water(s) (m.p.) ‘ésem ’étsem bone, self (m.s.) ‘éreb ’érev evening (m.s.) ֶצ ֶלם sélem tsélem ָשׁ ַמיִ ם šāmáyim shamáyim ָדּוִ ד dāwid david ָגּדֹל/ גָּדוֹל gādôl / gādōl gadol ָק ָטן/ ָקטֹן qātōn / qātān katon / katan small, insignificant ֶא ָחד ’ehād ’ehad one (m.) ָהיָה hāyāh haya ָל ַקח lāqah lakah Adjectives Number Verbs m. = masculine English f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 4 52 silver, money (m.s.) image, likeness (m.s.) heaven(s), sky (m.p.) David great (in size or importance) he/it was, it happened he took p. = plural Slides from the Unit Unit 4 53 Unit 4 54 Unit 4 55 Unit 4 56 Unit 4 57 Unit 4 58 Unit 4 59 Unit 4 60 Grammatical Remarks In this unit, we meet the remaining basic Hebrew vowels. Notes to remember: • The vowel sound under each letter is pronounced after the consonant. • In the vowel charts below, vowel names are written as they are pronounced, not as they are transliterated. Pronunciations in brackets [ ] follow the International Phonetic Alphabet. • It is customary in regard to 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 (length) played any important part in the original Tiberian tradition. In other words, even though we speak of “short” and “long” vowels, we don’t distinguish the length of the Hebrew vowels in our pronunciation. The length is important to note, however, because later it will help us to explain certain grammatical phenomena in Hebrew. The “E” Vowel E Hebrew Short Vowel Long Vowel: Plain Long Vowel: Mater Lectionis • Transliteration Name e ē ê eh ê ēh segól tsére segól malé tsére malé Most “E” vowels are pronounced [ε] as in “let”; but sometimes the long “E” vowels with a mater lectionis are pronounced more like the diphthong [eɪ] as in “day.” • Remember that the vowels ֶה/ -eh and ֵה/ -ēh appear only at the end of words, while / ê and ֵי/ ê can appear either at the end or in the middle. Unit 4 61 ֶי The “I” Vowel I Hebrew Transliteration Name i î híriq Short Vowel Long Vowel: Mater Lectionis híriq malé • All “I” vowels are pronounced [i] as in “meet.” • Remember that the vowel ִ י/ î can appear either in the middle or at the end of a word. The “O” Vowel O Hebrew Transliteration Name ō ô ōh hólem Long Vowel: Plain Long Vowel: Mater Lectionis hólem malé • All “O” vowels are pronounced [o] as in “open.” • The short [o] vowel is a special case and will be discussed in another unit. • Unlike other vowels, the hōlem is written above and to the left of the consonant it follows. • Remember that the vowel ֹה/ -ōh appears only at the end of words, while וֹ/ ô can appear at the end or in the middle. • The vowel ֹה/ -ōh is very rare. When it appears, it is usually in proper nouns (e.g. ) ְשׁלֹמֹה. The “U” Vowel U Hebrew Transliteration Name u û qibbúts Short Vowel Long Vowel: Mater Lectionis shúreq • All “U” vowels are pronounced [u] as in “boot.” • Remember that the וּ/ û vowel can appear either at the end or in the middle of a word. Unit 4 62 Homework 1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the appropriate word under each picture below (write both the consonants and the vowels). ָקטֹן a) ֶצ ֶלם ֶצ ֶלם ֶע ֶצם ַמיִ ם ֶכּ ֶסף c) b) d) f) ָהב ָז e) g) h) Unit 4 63 גָּדוֹל בּ ֶֹקר 2. Read aloud the Hebrew words on the left. Match them to their transliterations in the middle and fill in the blanks with the vowels. Then match the transliterations to the definitions on the right. ח ֶֹשׁ ְך ֶע ֶרב ָשׁ ַמיִ ם ָדּוִ ד ֶא ָחד ָהיָה ָל ַקח š_m_y_m he was d_w_d evening h ō š e k David h_y_h sky ‘_r_b darkness l _ q _ h one ’ _ h _ d he took 3. Read the following Hebrew words aloud, then sort them into the appropriate columns according to their vowels. ָרחוֹק ֶפּ ַסח נ ֵֹשׂא __ ā __ ô __ ָעזוּב ָקרוֹב __ ā __ û __ __ e __ a __ ָרחוֹק 4. Transliterate the words below into Hebrew. Read the Hebrew words aloud and find them in the word search. ’ādôn אָדוֹן ָכּתוּב “’adon” bêsāh yōšēb nāśî’ šēbet šumātî Unit 4 64 א ֵֹמר ֶס ַלע __ ō __ ē __ Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§7-9 = pp. 35-50) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§6-7 = pp. 34-50) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (XVII; XXV-XXVII) Unit 4 65 Unit 5 The 'Dagesh' and Syllable Division Unit Description: After discussing the Hebrew consonants and vowels we will learn how Hebrew marks gemination (doubling of a consonant) and how to divide words into syllables. We will also read and discuss verses from the story of the tree of knowledge (Genesis 3). New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 75 Unit 5 67 Vocabulary Category Nouns Conjunction Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English ִא ָשּׁה ’iššāh ’isha woman, wife (f.s.) ַבּיִ ת báyit báyit house, dwellingplace (m.s.) ַחיָּה hayyāh haya animal, living thing (f.s.) ַחיִּ ים ֶח ֶרב ָחשׁ ָנ hayyîm hayim life (m.p.) héreb hérev sword (f.s.) nāhāš nahash snake (m.s.) קוֹל qôl kol sound, voice (m.s.) ָשׂ ֶדה śādeh sade ֶפּן pen pen field, open country (m.s.) lest behold!, Interjection ִהנֵּה hinnēh hine “see (here), …” (draws attention to what follows) Interrogatives Adverb אַיֵּה ִמי ָשׁם ’ayyēh ’aye where? mî mi who? šām sham there, thither אָכל ַ ’ākal ’akhal ִה ִגּיד higgîd higid Verbs m. = masculine f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 5 68 he ate, he consumed he declared, he told p. = plural Slides from the Unit Unit 5 69 Unit 5 70 Unit 5 71 Unit 5 72 Unit 5 73 Unit 5 74 Unit 5 75 Grammatical Remarks Syllable Division A syllable is a sound unit that includes a vowel and possibly one or more consonants. For example, the word “water” has two syllables: 1.[wa] – 2. [ter]. The basic rule of Hebrew syllables is that each syllable must begin with a single consonant followed by at least one vowel. (This rule has very few exceptions.) There may or may not be a consonant at the end of the syllable, but there must be one at the beginning. Remember that there are letters that function as mater lectionis vowels. For example, the יin [ ִמיןmîn] is part of a vowel; so this syllable is consonant-vowel-consonant, not consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant. There are two regular kinds of syllables in Hebrew: 1. Open syllable – composed of a Consonant plus a Vowel (CV syllable) 2. Closed syllable – composed of a Consonant, Vowel, and Consonant (CVC syllable) The Dagesh The dagesh is the dot that can appear in the middle of a Hebrew letter. There are two different kinds of dagesh, each representing a different phonetic phenomenon. The first, called the “weak dagesh,” only appears in the “ בּג''ד כּפ''תbegad-kefat” letters and marks the consonant as a plosive (e.g. [b]) instead of a fricative (e.g. [v]), as we’ve already discussed in Unit 2. The other, called the “strong dagesh,” can appear in any letter of the Hebrew alphabet (excluding -ח-ה-א ר-)ע, and it doubles the letter so that it actually represents two consonants and not just one (e.g. [ = מּmm]). Note that the weak dagesh and the strong dagesh look identical in Hebrew writing, though they’re transliterated differently, as in the word [ ַבּ ַבּיִ תbabbáyit]. How do we tell the difference between the weak dagesh and the strong dagesh in the בּג''ד כּפ''תletters? The weak dagesh (the single plosive) is found in a letter that stands at the beginning of a syllable when it is immediately preceded by another consonant (e.g. [ יִ ְשׁבֹּרyišbōr]) or when it stands at the beginning of a word (e.g. [ ָבּ ָראbārā’]). The dagesh in a בּג''ד כּפ''תletter is a strong dagesh only when it is directly preceded by a vowel (e.g. [ ִשׁ ֵבּרšibbēr]). Stress The stress (emphasis, accent) of Hebrew words always falls either on the last syllable (ultimate stress, e.g. ָמר ֵ [ נnāmḗr]) or on the second-to-last syllable (penultimate stress, e.g. ֶפן ֶ [ גּgépen]). Because ultimate stress is the most frequently used, we will mark only penultimate stress in our transliteration. If there is no accent marked, you may assume that the accent is on the last syllable. Unit 5 76 Homework 1. Using the Unit 5 vocabulary list, fill in the crossword puzzle below with the correct Hebrew words. (Each square will hold one letter and the vowel pointing, if any, that follows it.) 1. Across: ם י ִיּ 2. life 2. ַח 3. behold! 5. who? 4. 6. voice 3. Down: 1. there 6. 5. 2. animal 3. he told 4. he ate 2. Match the words below to their definitions. Read each word aloud (see the pronunciations in the vocabulary list) and write whether each has ultimate or penultimate stress. אַיֵּה ִא ָשּׁה ַבּיִ ת ֶח ֶרב ָחשׁ ָנ ֶפּן ָשׂ ֶדה house snake where? ultimate woman sword field lest Unit 5 77 3. Transliterate each word below, keeping the two syllables of each word on either side of the dividing line. ָתּ ִמיד ִכּ ֵסּא tā | mîd ____ | ____ ַמ ֶטּה אָדם ָ ____ | ____ ֶל ֶחם ____ | ____ ַעמּוֹן ____ | ____ ָל ָמּה ____ | ____ ָמקוֹם ____ | ____ ____ | ____ 4. Arrange the words from the following list into two columns according to whether the dagesh in each word is weak (single plosive) or strong (doubled consonant). ַל ָדּה ְי ִא ַבּד ָכּ ָלה תּוֹרה ָ ִק ַדּשׁ Weak Dagesh ִסגַּר ָבּ ָרא Strong Dagesh ַל ָדּה ְי Unit 5 78 ַס ֵפּר Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§12-13 = pp. 55-56) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§10 = pp. 56-57) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (XVIII; XXIV-XXV) Unit 5 79 Unit 6 Nouns and Adjectives Unit Description: Now, after we are able to read and pronounce the Hebrew sounds, we will turn to discussing the morphology of Hebrew words. We will start with the nouns and adjectives and learn about their basic forms and grammar. We will learn these issues while continuing the discussion on the story of the tree of knowledge (Genesis 3). New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 90 Unit 6 81 Vocabulary Category Nouns Adjectives Verbs m. = masculine Hebrew ֶא ֶבן גַּן חוֹמה ָ ָמקוֹם סוּס ַעיִ ן ָשׁנָה ָקן ֵז ָח ָכם ַצ ִדּיק ָקדוֹשׁ ָר ָשׁע Transliteration Pronunciation English ’ében ’éven stone (f.s.) gan gan garden (m.s.) hômāh homa wall (f.s.) māqôm makom place (m.s.) sûs sus horse (m.s.) ‘áyin ’áyin eye (f.s.) šānāh shana year (f.s.) zāqēn zaken old hākām hakham wise saddîq tsadik just, righteous qādôš kadosh sacred, holy rāšā‘ rasha wicked ָתּ ִמים tāmîm tamim ָדע ַי yāda‘ yada ָשׁ ַמע šāma‘ shama f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 6 82 complete, sound, blameless he knew he heard, he listened Slides from the Unit Unit 6 83 Unit 6 84 Unit 6 85 Unit 6 86 Unit 6 87 Unit 6 88 Unit 6 89 Unit 6 90 Unit 6 91 Grammatical Remarks Nouns and Adjectives Every noun in Hebrew has both number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine). The masculine singular form has no special ending, but every other form has a suffix that marks the word as feminine singular (accented ) ָה, masculine plural () ִ ים, or feminine plural ()וֹת. The mater lectionis is not always used, so [ ] ִ םand [ ] ֹתmean exactly the same thing as [] ִ ים and []וֹת. Singular Plural Masculine -- ִ ים- Feminine ָה- וֹת- Every adjective has a gender and number that matches the noun it describes. This agreement is an important difference between Hebrew and English. Another difference is that in Hebrew, unlike in English, the adjective follows the noun it describes: Singular Plural Masculine סוּס טוֹב טוֹבים ִ סוּסים ִ Feminine טוֹבה ָ סוּסה ָ סוּסוֹת טוֹבוֹת Irregular Nouns Even though the above charts show the regular forms, there are a number of irregular nouns in which the gender is not predictably marked. Many Hebrew nouns, especially those with an arbitrary grammatical gender (e.g. א ֶבן ֶ “stone”) and not a natural gender (e.g. “ ַמ ְל ָכּהqueen”), are irregular and may look like the opposite gender. The plural endings [ ] ִ יםand [ ]וֹתmay be used for either gender, and feminine singular nouns are often not marked by the characteristic [ ] ָהending. However, if the accented [ ] ָהending does appear, the noun must be feminine singular; this form will never be masculine. (Note that this feminine singular [ ] ָהending must be accented. If this suffix appears in a word where it is not accented, e.g. [ ַליְ ָלהláylāh], the ending is not a feminine indicator.) Unit 6 92 A solution to this problem of irregular nouns is that the form of the adjective will always show the correct number and gender of the noun it matches. This phenomenon allows us to see the gender of any irregular noun by looking at the adjective that describes it. Singular Plural Masculine גָּג גָּדוֹל גַּגּוֹת ְגּד ִֹלים Feminine ֶא ֶבן ְגּד ָֹלה ֲא ָבנִ ים ְגּדֹלוֹת Unit 6 93 Homework 1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the appropriate word under each picture below. גַּן ַעיִ ן ָדע ַי a) ֶא ֶבן חוֹמה ָ ָדע ַי b) d) c) סוּס e) f) g) Unit 6 94 ָשׁ ַמע 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. * Note: We include the verse references not only for your own interest, but also because the context may help with the translation where several meanings are possible. Try to think of possible translations, then check the verse to get the context. ימה ָ ( ָשׁנָה ְת ִמLev. 25:30) a complete year ָקן ֵ ( אָב זGen. 44:20) ( ָמקוֹם ָקדֹשׁLev. 6:9 Hbrw. / 6:16 Eng.) ( ִא ָשּׁה ֲח ָכ ָמה2 Sam. 14:2) ( גּוֹי ַצ ִדּיקIs. 26:2) אָדם ָר ָשׁע ָ (Prov. 11:7) ( ַמיִ ם ְקד ִֹשׁיםNum. 5:17) 3. Match the Hebrew phrases on the left to their English translations on the right. ֶמ ֶל ְך ָגּדֹל נְ ָערוֹת טוֹבוֹת ְמ ָל ִכים ְגּד ִֹלים ַמ ְל ָכּה ְגּד ָֹלה טוֹבים ִ נְ ָע ִרים ַער טוֹב ַנ ְמ ָלכוֹת ְגּדֹלוֹת טוֹבה ָ ֲרה ָ ַנע good young men a great queen a great king a good young woman great kings good young women a good young man great queens Unit 6 95 4. Sort the following noun-adjective phrases into columns based on their gender. ָקן ֵ ִאישׁ ז טוֹבים ִ ִלבּוֹת ָשׁים ַצ ִדּיקוֹת ִנ ִא ָשּׁה ָר ָעה ֶפן ְגּד ָֹלה ֶגּ ֶפּה ָקטֹן ְלשֹׁנוֹת ַר ִבּים ֵעינַיִ ם יָפוֹת Feminine Masculine ָקן ֵ ִאישׁ ז Unit 6 96 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§80, §87-88 = pp. 222-224, 241-244) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§89-91 = pp. 266-275) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§12, §19, §25, §34 = pp. 3-4, 9, 17-18, 27-28) Unit 6 97 Unit 7 The 'Shewa' Unit Description: In this unit we will go back a little to the realm of the sounds and learn about another vocalic sign, the 'Shewa'. We will discuss this sign within the framework of the story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 105 Unit 7 99 Vocabulary Category Nouns Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English ְבּ ֵה ָמה bəhēmāh bəhema beast, animal, cattle (f.s.) ַליְ ָלה ִמ ְג ָדּל láylāh láyla night (m.s.) migdāl migdal tower (m.s.) אָך ְ ַמ ְל mal’āk mal’akh ַמ ְמ ָל ָכה mamlākāh mamlakha kingdom (f.s.) messenger, angel (m.s.) ֶק ֶדם qédem kédem front, east, ancient times (m.s.) רֹאשׁ rō’š rosh head (m.s.) ָשׂ ָפה śāpāh safa יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל ֵהם or ֵה ָמּה yiśrā’ēl yisra’el hēm hem or or hḗmmāh héma Preposition תוֹך ְ ְבּ bətôk bətokh Conjunction ְו ְמאֹד ָבּנָה ָמ ָצא wə və and mə’ōd mə’od very bānāh bana he built māsā’ matsa he found Proper Noun Independent Pronoun Adverb Verbs m. = masculine f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 7 100 lip, language, edge (f.s.) Israel they, those (m.) in the middle of; among Slides from the Unit Unit 7 101 Unit 7 102 Unit 7 103 Unit 7 104 Unit 7 105 Unit 7 106 Unit 7 107 Unit 7 108 Unit 7 109 Grammatical Remarks The Shewa In this unit we meet the Hebrew shewa: [ ְ ]. The special characteristic of the shewa is that it can sometimes be silent, in which case it is not transliterated or pronounced at all. In other places, it can be a “moving shewa” (also known as a “vocal shewa” or a “shewa mobile”), in which case it is transliterated by the sign [ə] and pronounced as a very short [ĕ] vowel. The basic rule for determining whether a shewa is silent or moving is this: A moving shewa opens a syllable, and a silent shewa closes a syllable. For example, in the word שׁ ְמרוּ ְ ִי [yiš-mərû], the first shewa is silent and the second shewa is moving. (The moving shewa is considered to be part of the syllable it opens; it is not a separate vowel that counts as its own syllable.) The Moving Shewa There are three main indicators that a shewa is a moving shewa (i.e. that it opens a syllable). 1. A shewa under the first consonant of a word is moving, as in [ ְבּיָדוֹbəyā-dô]. 2. The second of two consecutive shewas (except at the end of a word) is always a moving shewa, as in [ יִ ְכ ְתּבוּyik-təbû]. (This means that the first of these two shewas is silent.) 3. A shewa under any consonant that is doubled by a strong dagesh is moving, as in [ ִמ ְמּ ָךmim-məkā]. (This is basically equivalent to the second rule, since ְמּ = ְמ ְמ.) The Silent Shewa There are three main indicators that a shewa is a silent shewa (i.e. that it closes a syllable). 1. A shewa at the end of a word is silent, as in ית ְך ֵ [ ֵבּbê-tēk]. A final shewa is usually only seen in the letter ( ְךthough in certain cases it can appear in other letters, as in ָכּ ַת ְב ְתּor אַתּ ְ ) – in other final letters, a silent shewa is implicit, but not usually written. 2. A shewa at the end of any accented syllable is silent, as in [ ֵר ְדנָהrḗd-nāh]. 3. A shewa after any short vowel (provided that the consonant it marks isn’t doubled by a ֵ [ ִה ְת ַכּhit-kat-tēb]. dagesh) is silent, as in תּב Unit 7 110 Homework 1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list, and write the appropriate word under each picture below. ֶק ֶדם a) ִמ ְג ָדּל ֶק ֶדם ָמ ָצא ָשׂ ָפה ָבּנָה b) c) d) f) אָך ְבּ ֵה ָמה ְ ַמ ְל e) g) h) Unit 7 111 רֹאשׁ 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. ִאישׁ טוֹב ְמאֹד a very good man ָהב ָ ֶכּ ֶסף וְ ז תוֹך יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל ְ ְבּ ָקטֹן ְמאֹד יוֹם וְ ַליְ ָלה ַמ ְמ ָל ָכה ְגּדֹ ָלה ָח ָכם וְ ַצ ִדּיק 3. Read the following Hebrew words aloud and transliterate them into Latin script. (Note: the syllables bolded in red are accented.) ַר ֵדּן ְי yardēn “yarden” ְשׁ ַמ ְענָה יד ְבּרוּ ַ ִו יִ ְק ְראוּ ְספֹ ְרנָה ִתּ ְשׁ ְמעוּ ָה ַפ ְך ִתּ ְתּנוּ Unit 7 112 4. Decide whether the shewa in each word below is a moving shewa or a silent shewa, and sort the words under the appropriate columns. (Note: the syllables bolded in red are accented.) ְתּ ִה ָלּה ַפּ ְרעֹה יִ ְפּלוּ ישׁ ְלּחוּ ַ ִו Moving Shewa ֶמ ֶל ְך ְמ ַנ ֶשּׁה Silent Shewa ְתּ ִה ָלּה Unit 7 113 יִ ְצ ָחק ֵשׁ ְב ָנה Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§10a-e = pp. 51-52) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§8 = pp. 50-54) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§10 = pp. XXV-XXVII) Unit 7 114 Unit 8 Hebrew Word Structure Unit Description: The question discussed in this unit is - how does Hebrew create words? We will learn about the Hebrew terms 'Shoresh' (root) and Mishqal (pattern). We will also read and discuss a few verses from the story of the flood (Genesis 6-8). New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 120 Unit 8 115 Vocabulary Category Hebrew ָדּג Transliteration Pronunciation dāg dag English fish (m.s.) generation; דּוֹר/ דֹּר dôr / dōr dor period (of time) (m.s.) olive-tree, זַיִ ת záyit záyit *ָז ָכר ָח ָמס יוֹ ָנה zākār zakhar male (m.s.) hāmās hamas violence (m.s.) yônāh yona dove (f.s.) ִמ ְשׁ ָכּן miškān mishkan ִמ ְשׁ ָפּט mišpāt mishpat נְ ֵק ָבה ֵקץ nəqēbāh nəkeva female (f.s.) qēs kets end (m.s.) Demonstrative Pronoun ֵא ֶלּה ’ḗlleh ’éle these Number ְשׁ ַניִ ם אוֹ ָבּא ִצ ָוּה šənáyim shənáyim two ’ô ’o or bā’ ba he came, entered siwwāh tsiva he commanded Nouns Conjunction Verbs m. = masculine f. = feminine s. = singular * ָז ָכרmay also appear as an adjective. Unit 8 116 olive (m.s.) dwelling-place, tabernacle (m.s.) judgment, justice (m.s.) Slides from the Unit Unit 8 117 Unit 8 118 Unit 8 119 Unit 8 120 Unit 8 121 Unit 8 122 Unit 8 123 Unit 8 124 Unit 8 125 Grammatical Remarks In this unit we deal primarily with the structure of Hebrew words. Most Hebrew words are built from a set of root letters and from a pattern into which these root letters are inserted. The combination of these two systems is what creates most Hebrew words. Roots Every Hebrew word has a set of root consonants (also called “radicals”). Usually there are three root letters, though there are a few words that seem to have only two (e.g. אָב, )יָד. The root carries the basic semantic range (i.e. field of meaning) of a word. For example, “ עבדserve” is the root of the words “ ֶע ֶבדservant,” מ ְע ָבּד ַ “work,” ֻדּה ָ “ ֲעבservice,” עוֹבד ֵ “Obed” (a personal name, probably meaning “worshipper,” i.e. one who serves God), and ֲבוֹדה ָ “ עlabor, service.” Patterns / Mishqalim The three radicals of the root are placed into a particular pattern of vowels, sometimes accompanied by a prefix and/or suffix. (The Hebrew grammatical term for a word pattern is “ ִמ ְשׁ ָקלmishqal.”) Any of the following elements may be part of a word pattern (we use קטל as example root letters): 1. Vowels – Every word pattern must have a characteristic set of vowels. For example, ָק ָטלis a different pattern from ֶק ֶטל. Remember that sometimes a vowel might be written with a mater lectionis (י/ו/)ה, so these vowel letters are not necessarily part of the root. 2. The Strong Dagesh – Some patterns (e.g. טּל ָ ) ַקinclude a strong dagesh, which doubles one of the consonants of the root. 3. Prefix – Some patterns include a prefix letter. The common prefix letters for nouns are מ and ( תas in טל ָ ִמ ְקor ) ַתּ ְקטוּל. A prefix is part of the pattern, not the root – so if you see a word that begins with one of these letters, check carefully to see whether it is one of the three root letters or whether it might be a separate prefix. 4. Suffix – Patterns can sometimes use a feminine ending, as in טל( ִמ ְשׁ ָפּ ָחה ָ ִמ ְקpattern ַ ( ַתּ ְק ֵטלpattern with a feminine ending). with a feminine ending) or תּ ְר ֵע ָלה Unit 8 126 Why is it important to recognize roots and patterns? Knowing the root can tell you the general field of meaning that a word has, even if you aren’t familiar with the pattern. The same root can appear in many different patterns, creating families of words that have related meanings. If you know one or two words in a family, you can guess the meanings of the other words based on their common root. For example, the root “ מלךto reign” is used in the related words מ ֶל ְך ֶ “king,” לוּכה ָ “ ְמkingship, royalty,” ( ִמ ְל ָכּהpersonal name, probably meaning “queen”), מ ְמ ָל ָכה ַ “kingdom,” and ( מ ֶֹל ְךpersonal name of a god, i.e. “divine ruler”). Knowing the pattern can tell you what kind of word you see (noun, adjective, etc.). Some patterns are even more specific. Here are a few examples: 1. 2. – ָק ָטלThis pattern is very common. It is a popular form for adjectives (e.g. ) ָח ָכם, but it is also used for some nouns (e.g. אָדם ָ ). – ַק ָטּלThis noun pattern is typically used for professions or occupations, as in ַר ָכּב “charioteer, horseman” (related to “ ָר ַכבhe rode”) or שּׁת ָ “ ַקarcher” (related to ֶק ֶשׁת “bow”). Note that the strong dagesh doubling the middle radical is part of the pattern. 3. – ִמ ְק ָטלThis is a very common pattern for nouns (the מprefix usually indicates a noun pattern.) The טל ָ ִמ ְקpattern is often used as the place where the root action happens or as the focus/result of the root action. For example, “ ִמ ְשׁ ָכּןdwelling-place” comes from the root “ שׁכןto dwell” and is often used for the tabernacle, i.e. the place where God dwells among the people of Israel. The word “ ִמ ְס ָפּרnumber” comes from the root ספר “to count” and is the focus of the action of counting. (Keep in mind that this is only a general description of this noun pattern and might not be so easily seen in other words!) 4. 5. – ַתּ ְקטוּלThough this pattern is not nearly as common as ִמ ְק ָטל, it is one example of a pattern that uses the common prefix letter ת, which typically indicates a noun pattern. – ַק ִטּילThis is a common pattern for adjectives, seen in words like “ ַצ ִדּיקrighteous” (Genesis 6:9), אַבּיר ִ “strong,” “ ַע ִתּיקancient,” and אַדּיר ִ “majestic.” Most importantly, recognizing which elements are part of the pattern will enable you to determine which letters are part of the root. Many good Biblical Hebrew lexicons organize words by their roots. In order to find the definition of a word, you may need to be able to identify what its root letters are. Unit 8 127 Homework 1. Using the Unit 8 vocabulary list, fill in the crossword puzzle below with the correct Hebrew words. (Each square will hold one letter or one vowel.) 1. Across: 2. 2. end 4. female 3. ה ָ ב ֵ ק 6. he commanded ְ 7. he came 4. נ Down: 1. these 3. two 5. 5. violence 6. 7. Unit 8 128 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. ָע ָשׂה ִמ ְשׁ ָפּט he did justice יוֹ ָנה טוֹ ָבה ִמ ְשׁ ָכּן ָקדוֹשׁ ַזיִ ת ָקטֹן ְמאֹד ( ָז ָכר אוֹ נְ ֵק ָבהDeut. 4:16) ( דּוֹר ַצ ִדּיקPsalm 14:5) ( ָדּג ָגּדוֹלJonah 2:1) 3. Match the Hebrew words on the left with their patterns on the right. ָח ָדשׁ ִמ ְב ָצר ִאַ ִדּיר ַגּנָּב פּוּכה ָ ַתּ ְה עֹ ֶמק ִמ ְל ָח ָמה ַתּ ְכ ִריך mi__ā_āh _ā_ā_ _a__ā_ mi__ā_ _a__î_ ta__û_āh ta__î_ _ō_e_ 4. Write the three root letters of each of the following words. ַתּ ְר ֵדּ ָמה ד מ ר חוֹ ָתם __ __ __ ִמ ְכ ָתּב __ __ __ ַתּ ְחבּוּ ָלה __ __ __ __ __ __ ְגּבוּ ָלה __ __ __ ַתּ ְל ִמיד אכה ָ __ __ __ ְמ ָל __ __ __ ַע ִתּיק Unit 8 129 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§84a-b, §85 = pp. 227-38) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§88 = pp. 239-65) * Joüon-Muraoka has the better discussion on this topic. Unit 8 130 Unit 9 A Few More Vowels Unit Description: In this unit we will complete the phonological part by learning a few more vowels: the short vowel [o] (qamatz-qatan) and the reduced vowels. We will learn how to recognize them while discussing the story of Jacob’s dream (Genesis 28). New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 135 Unit 9 131 Vocabulary Category Nouns Proper Nouns Independent Pronouns Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English ֲא ָד ָמה ’ădāmāh ’adama ֶרע ַז zéra‘ zéra ָצ ָבא sābā’ tsava ַשׁ ַער אַב ָר ָהם ְ šá‘ar shá’ar gate (m.s.) ’abrāhām ’avraham Abraham ֲאדֹנָי ’ădōnāy ’adonay ֱאל ִֹהים ’ĕlōhîm ’elohim ַי ֲעקֹב יִ ְצ ָחק / ֲאנִ י אָנ ִֹכי אַתּה ָ ya‘ăqōb ya’akov Jacob yishāq yitshak Isaac ’ănî / ’ānōkî ’ani / ’anokhi I ’attāh ’ata you (m.s.) this (m.) ground, land (f.s.) seed, offspring (m.s.) army, warfare (m.s.) Lord (divine title) God (m.s.); gods (m.p.) Demonstrative Pronoun זֶה zeh ze Relative Particle ֲא ֶשׁר ’ăšer ’asher yāsā’ yatsa he went out Verbs ָצא ָי ָשׁ ַכב šākab shakhav he lay down m. = masculine f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 9 132 p. = plural that, which, who Slides from the Unit Unit 9 133 Unit 9 134 Unit 9 135 Unit 9 136 Unit 9 137 Unit 9 138 Unit 9 139 Unit 9 140 Unit 9 141 Grammatical Remarks In this unit, we meet the four remaining Hebrew vowels we have not studied before now. (In the vowel chart below, vowel names are written as they are pronounced, not as they are transliterated.) Hebrew Transliteration Name Reduced Vowel: A ă hatáf patáh Reduced Vowel: E ĕ hatáf segól Reduced Vowel: O ŏ hatáf qamáts Short Vowel: O o qamáts-qatán The Short [o] Vowel Hebrew has a short [o] vowel, the qamats-qatan (“small qamats”), which looks identical to the long [ā] vowel qamats. The qamats-qatan is pronounced [o] as in “open.” The qamats-qatan only appears in closed, unaccented syllables. In every other case, the [ ָ ] vowel is the long qamats [ā]. For example, in the word אָכ ָלה ְ [’ok-lāh], the first vowel is [o] because it stands in a closed, unaccented syllable; but the last vowel is [ā] because it is accented. Reduced Vowels The guttural letters אהחעbehave differently from the other consonants because they are pronounced in the throat. One way in which these letters behave differently is that they don’t usually take a regular shewa. Instead, they use “reduced vowels,” which add a very short vowel sound to the letter, making it easier to pronounce. Each of the three reduced vowels is formed by combining the shewa sign with the corresponding short vowel. Likewise, the pronunciation is identical to the short vowel. A reduced vowel always opens a syllable like a moving shewa does. A reduced vowel is likely to appear under a guttural in the same place where a shewa would appear under a regular letter. The change from shewa to reduced vowel does not change the basic pattern (e.g. אַה ָבה ֲ is the same pattern as ַק ְד ָמה, even though it has a hatáf patáh instead of a shewa). Unit 9 142 Homework 1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list, and write the appropriate word under each picture below. ָצא ָי a) ָשׁ ַכב ָצא ָי ֶרע ַז ֲא ָד ָמה ָצ ָבא c) b) e) d) f) ַי ֲעקֹב g) h) Unit 9 143 אַב ָר ָהם ְ ַשׁ ַער 2. Using the Unit 9 vocabulary list, fill in the crossword puzzle below with the correct Hebrew words. (Each square will hold one letter or one vowel.) 1. 2. ם י ִ ה ֹ ל ֱ 3. א 4. 5. 6. Across: Down: 2. which 1. Lord 3. God 3. you (m. s.) 5. Isaac 4. I 6. this (m.) Unit 9 144 3. Read the following Hebrew words aloud and transliterate them into Latin script. ָע ְר ָלה ‘orlāh “’orla” ֱא ֵלי ֲה ַדד ֳח ִלי ֲלה ָ ַמע אָרכּוֹ ְ ֱאמ ִֹרי ֳפ ִרים ָע 4. Match each Hebrew word on the left with the word on the right that shares the same pattern. ֲדה ָ ֵאר ֲאגַף ֲרב ָ ַמע ֳאנִ י ֲחמוֹר ַתּעֲנִ ית ֲרה ָ ַנע ֲחר ֶֹשׁת ַמ ְשׁאָב ְבּ ִכי ַתּ ְכ ִלית ֵא ְל ָכה ַל ָדּה ְי ְדּ ַבשׁ ְכּת ֶֹבת ְבּרוֹשׁ Unit 9 145 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§9u, §10f-h = pp. 45-46, 54-56) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§6 l-n, §9 = pp. 50-54) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§6, §10 = pp. XX-XXI, XXV-XXVII) Unit 9 146 Unit 10 The Definite Article Unit Description: How does Hebrew mark the difference between "a boy" and "the boy"? This is the question that will we try to answer in unit 10. We will return to reading and discussing verses from the story of the creation (Genesis 1) and the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 150 Unit 10 147 Vocabulary Category Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English ָח ְכ ָמה כּוֹכב ָ hokmāh hokhma wisdom (f.s.) kôkāb kokhav star (m.s.) ֵל ָבב/ ֵלב lēb / lēbāb lev / levav ֶפשׁ ֶנ népeš néfesh ע ָֹלה ‘ōlāh ’ola ֶפּה peh pe יהוה yhwh ’adonay* ְשׁלֹמֹה אַחר ֵ ָטהוֹר ָט ֵמא ָפה ֶי ָשׁר ָי ָרד ַי ָע ָלה šəlōmōh shəlomo Solomon ’ahēr ’aher another tāhôr tahor clean, pure tāmē’ tame unclean yāpeh yafe fair, beautiful yāšār yashar straight, right yārad yarad he came down ‘ālāh ’ala he went up Nouns Proper Nouns Adjectives Verbs m. = masculine f. = feminine heart (mind, will, emotions) (m.s.) soul, person, living being (f.s.) whole burnt offering (f.s.) mouth (m.s.) LORD* (name of Israel’s God) s. = singular * This name is usually written יְ הוָהand read as אדֹנָי ֲ “LORD.” But in some cases, particularly when this name appears next to the name אדֹנָי ֲ , it is written יְ הוִ ה ֱ “GOD.” and read as אל ִֹהים Unit 10 148 Slides from the Unit Unit 10 149 Unit 10 150 Unit 10 151 Unit 10 152 Unit 10 153 Unit 10 154 Unit 10 155 Grammatical Remarks The Indefinite Article Hebrew has no indefinite article (“a”). A Hebrew word that does not have the definite article can be translated with or without “a,” depending on the context. For example, “ = סוּסhorse” or “a horse.” The Definite Article Meaning: The definite article (“the”) is used in Hebrew in generally the same way as it is in English. The definite article marks something or somebody specific. Regular Form: The definite article in Hebrew is not a separate word as it is in English. Instead, the Hebrew definite article attaches to the beginning of the word it marks. The regular definite article is composed of three elements: 1. The letter ה, 2. The short [a] vowel patah, 3. A strong dagesh doubling the first consonant of the word. For example, “ = ַהסּוּסthe horse.” Exception: In some words in which the first consonant is followed by a shewa, that first consonant is not geminated (i.e. doubled by a dagesh) when the definite article is added. For example, “ = ַהיְ ָל ִדיםthe children,” even though there is no dagesh in the letter י. (This phenomenon only occurs in some words; in other words that begin with a shewa, the dagesh still appears.) Noun-Adjective Agreement Nouns and the adjectives that describe them must agree with each other in definiteness. In other words, if a noun has the definite article, so will the adjective that describes it. (Remember that the adjective must also agree with the noun in number and gender.) English convention does not require us to translate the definite article twice. For example, “ = ַהסּוּס ַהטּוֹבthe good horse.” Unit 10 156 Notes from the Text יהוהis the personal name of Israel’s God, but its original vowels were not preserved, so nobody knows exactly how it was pronounced. In Hebrew tradition, out of a desire to not accidentally break the third commandment by misusing the divine name, this name was read “ ֲאדֹנָיLORD.” The first and last vowels of ֲאדֹנָיwere added to the consonants of the name – ( יְ הוָהthe hataf-patah changed to a shewa under the – )יto remind the reader that this name was to be pronounced [’ădōnāy]. Many English translations render this as “LORD,” with all capital letters. Sometimes it appears as ( יְ הוִ הwith the vowels of ֹהים ִ “ ֱאלGod”), in which case we pronounce [’ĕlōhîm] and translate as “GOD.” Some reading traditions choose to read “ ַהשֵּׁםthe Name” whenever they see the letters יהוהwith either set of vowels. The Conjunction: The regular conjunction ְ“ וand” appears as the long [û] vowel וּwhen it is attached to a word that begins with one of the following: 1. A consonant pointed with a shewa – Hebrew cannot begin a word with two shewas, so the form of the conjunction changes, e.g. וּ ְשׁלֹמֹה. 2. A bilabial consonant (פ/מ/ – )בThe original pronunciation of the וwas probably [w], which is very close to these three bilabials (consonants that are pronounced with the lips), so it very naturally morphed into the “bilabial”* vowel [û] before one of these consonants, as in וּ ֵבין. * According to the International Phonetic Alphabet, this is a “close back rounded vowel.” Unit 10 157 Homework 1. Match the Hebrew phrase on the left to the correct translation on the right. ְשׁלֹמֹה ָע ָלה ָשׁר ָ ָתּ ִמים וְ י ָח ְכ ָמה ְגּד ָֹלה ַה ָמּקוֹם ַה ָטּ ֵמא וְ ע ָֹלה ָרד ַ יְ הוָה י ַה ֶפּה ַה ָקּטֹן blameless and upright the unclean place Solomon went up the small mouth great wisdom and a burnt offering the LORD went down 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. ( ֵלב ֶא ָחדEzek. 11:19) one heart ָהב ָטהוֹר ָ ( זExod. 25:11) ָפה ָ ( ִא ָשּׁה יProv. 11:22) כּוֹכ ִבים ָ ( ַהGen. 15:5) אַחר ֵ ( ִאישׁ1 Kings 20:37) ( וְ ַה ֶנּ ֶפשׁLev. 7:18) ( ַחיָּה ְט ֵמאָהLev. 5:2) Unit 10 158 3. Add the definite article to each of the following words. ָשּׂ ֶדה ַה ָשּׂ ֶדה ָדּ ָבר אָך ְ ַמ ְל קוֹל גּוֹי ָצ ָבא ַער ַנ ֶלד ֶי 4. Circle the adjective that agrees with the preceding noun in number, gender, and definiteness. Unit 10 159 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§35 = pp. 110-12) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§35 = pp. 112-14) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§14, §18, §21 = pp. 5, 8, 12) Unit 10 160 Unit 11 The Definite Article, Con't & Some Prepositions Unit Description: In this unit we will continue to discuss some other aspects of the definite article. We will also learn how Hebrew combines the definite article with some prepositions, while discussing verses from the story of the tree of knowledge (Genesis 3). New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 165 Unit 11 161 Vocabulary Category Nouns Adjectives Independent Pronouns Prepositions Interrogativ es Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation ָעוֹן ‘āwōn ’avon sin, punishment, guilt (m.s.) ָענָן ֶרגֶל ַחי ‘ānān ’anan cloud(s) (m.s.) régel régel foot (f.s.) hay hay alive, living ִראשׁוֹן ri’šôn rishon former, first, chief ַרב rab rav much, many, great הוּא ִהוא/ ִהיא hû’ hu he, it, that (m.) hî’ hi she, it, that (f.) -ְבּ bə- bə- in, with*, at, by, among -ְכּ kə- kə- like, as, according to -ְל lə- lə- to, for, belonging to ֶמה/ ָמה māh / meh ma / me what? how? ָל ָמּה lā́mmāh láma why? (lit. “for what?”) ָשׁ ַכן šākan shakhan he settled down, he dwelt shamar he kept, he guarded, he preserved Verbs ָשׁ ַמר m. = masculine English šāmar f. = feminine s. = singular * - ְבּis translated “with” only in the instrumental sense (i.e. “by means of”). Unit 11 162 Slides from the Unit Unit 11 163 Unit 11 164 Unit 11 165 Unit 11 166 Unit 11 167 Unit 11 168 Unit 11 169 Unit 11 170 Unit 11 171 Grammatical Remarks The Definite Article with Gutturals In this unit, we continue our discussion of the definite article (“the”) and see how it takes a slightly different form before the guttural letters. The reason for this is that the guttural letters א, ה, ח, ע, and also ( רwhich sometimes acts like a guttural, as here) cannot be doubled, i.e. they cannot take a dagesh. Since the dagesh is part of the regular form of the definite article, the absence of the dagesh sometimes affects the vowel of the definite article as well. Regular Form Before א, ע, ר Before ה, ח Before ה, ח, עpointed with an unaccented qamats • ּ ַה ָה ַה ֶה ַה ֶמּ ֶל ְך,ַהסּוּס ָהרֹאשׁ, ָה ַעיִ ן,ָה ֶא ֶבן וֹמה ָ ַהח,ַההוּא ֶה ָענָן, ֶה ָח ָכם,ֶה ָה ִרים The lengthening of the vowel of the definite article before א, ע, and רcompensates for the inability to geminate (double) the guttural. Before a regular consonant, the form of the definite article is ה+ short vowel + gemination: [ ַהסּוּסhassus]. When no gemination (doubling) is possible, a lengthening of the vowel compensates for the missing consonant: [ ָה ַרעhaara‘].This process is called “compensatory lengthening,” and it can be illustrated in the following tablet: C V C C C V V C • Before הand ח, the definite article usually remains ַה, though still with no following gemination/doubling. In other words, there is no “compensatory lengthening” in these cases. • Exception: Whenever a letter ה, ח, or עis followed by an unaccented qamats (long [ā] vowel), the vowel of the preceding definite article is the short [e] vowel seghol. Prepositions ל/ כּ/ בּ Any Hebrew word that consists of only one letter is attached to the word that follows it, as we saw with the definite article ה. Other single-letter words include the prepositions “ בin, with,” כ “like, as,” and “ לto, for,” which are typically pointed with a shewa when they are prefixed to a word without the definite article (e.g. “ ְבּ ִמ ְג ָדּלin a tower”). When one of these prepositions appears before the definite article, the הof the definite article is omitted, but the vowel and dagesh (if applicable) of the definite article remain. For example, “ = ַבּ ִמּ ְג ָדּלin the tower.” Unit 11 172 Homework 1. Match the Hebrew phrase on the left to the correct translation on the right. ִכּי־ ָשׁ ַכן why, LORD? (Ex. 32:11) ֶרגֶל יְ ָשׁ ָרה לֹא ָשׁ ַמר ָל ָמה יְ הוָה he did not keep (2 Kgs. 17:19) אָמר ַ ָמה־ the living God (1 Sam. 17:26) ֱאל ִֹהים ַחיִּ ים ַכּ ָדּ ָבר ַהזֶּה because it had settled (Ex. 40:35) a straight foot (Eze. 1:7) like this thing (Gen. 44:7) what did he say? (2 Kgs. 8:14) 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. ( ַבּ ָשּׁנָה ַה ִהיאJdg. 10:8) in that year ( ְלע ָֹלהGen. 22:7) ( ֶה ָענָן וְ ַהח ֶֹשׁ ְךEx. 14:20) ֶרע ַרב ַ ( זDt. 28:38) ( ַבּיּוֹם ָה ִראשׁוֹןEx. 12:15) ( ֶה ָעוֹן ַהזֶּהIs. 22:14) ( הוּא ָהיָהGen. 4:20) Unit 11 173 3. Add the definite article to each of the following words. ֵאשׁ ַחיִ ל ֶע ֶבד ֶר ֶכב ָח ֵצר ֲה ֵרגָה אָדוֹן ָה ֵאשׁ ָע ֶלה 4. Write each of the following words without the definite article and/or the preposition. ֶל ָה ִרים ָבּ ְרחוֹב ַה ֵשּׁם ָה ִרים ָהאֹ ֶר ְך ְל ָה ָמן ָחשׁ ָ ַכּנּ ַה ֵח ֶלב ַבּ ֶדּ ֶר ְך Unit 11 174 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§35, §102c-d = pp. 110-12, 298-99) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§35, §103a-b = pp. 112-14, 336) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§14-15, §18, §21 = pp. 5, 8, 12) Unit 11 175 Unit 12 Construct Chains Unit Description: What is the difference between "a wood chest" and "a chest of wood"? In this unit we learn how Hebrew marks the "of" relationship. We will illustrate this relationship discussing some verses from Genesis. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 180 Unit 12 177 Vocabulary Category Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English א ֶֹהל ֲארוֹן ’ṓhel ’óhel tent (m.s.) ’ărôn ’aron chest, ark (m.s.) יכל ָ ֵה hêkāl hekhal ָח ֵצר hāsēr hatser enclosure, courtyard (b.s.) כֹּל kōl kol all, each, every, the whole (m.s.) ְכּ ִלי kəlî kəli utensil, article, vessel (m.s.) ָביא ִנ nābî’ navi prophet, spokesman (m.s.) נְ ח ֶֹשׁת nəhṓšet nəhóshet ְתּ ִפ ָלּה ִמ ְצ ַריִ ם מֹ ֶשׁה ִסינַי ֵע ָשׂו ִה ִבּיט ָשׁ ַלח təpillāh təfila prayer (f.s.) misráyim mitsráyim Egypt mōšeh moshe Moses sînay sinay Sinai ‘ēśāw ’esav Esau hibbît hibit he looked šālah shalah he sent Nouns Proper Nouns Verbs m. = masculine f. = feminine b. = both m. and f. Unit 12 178 palace, temple (m.s.) copper, bronze (m.s.) s. = singular Slides from the Unit Unit 12 179 Unit 12 180 Unit 12 181 Unit 12 182 Unit 12 183 Unit 12 184 Unit 12 185 Unit 12 186 Grammatical Remarks In these units we meet the “construct chain,” which is the Hebrew method of combining two (or more) nouns so that one noun describes the other noun in some way. Construct Chains Most languages have some method of combining two nouns so that one of the nouns describes the other. With English compound nouns, the compound noun construction “X Y” can usually be expanded into “Y of X.” For example, “a straw hut” could also be called “a hut of straw.” The “of” between two nouns (whether written or implicit in a compound) can express a number of different relationships between those nouns, depending on the nouns and their context. Some examples: “Tree house” - Place: the house is built in the tree “Straw hut” - Material: the hut is made from straw “Summer home” - Time: the home is visited in the summer “Lighthouse” - Purpose: the house sends out light “Police car” – Possession: the car belongs to the police In a compound construction, there is always one noun that expresses the central idea, accompanied by a second noun that describes the central one. In the English “X Y” or “Y of X” construction, Y is central and X is used as a modifier. For example, in “tree house,” “house” is the main idea, and “tree” tells us something about the house. The Hebrew method for combining two nouns in an adjectival relationship may be compared to the English construction “XY” (e.g. “wood chest”), in which the words are placed directly next to each other. The Hebrew construction, however, follows the order of the English construction “Y of X” (e.g. “chest of wood”) by putting the central noun before the describing noun. For example, “a chest of wood” appears in Hebrew as ארוֹן ֵעץ ֲ . This Hebrew method of compounding two nouns is described as a “construct chain.” Like in English, the “of” relationship expressed by this combination of two (or more) nouns may express many different semantic relationships (place, possession, material, etc.); but the grammatical construction is always the same. Unit 12 187 Signs of a Construct Chain: 1. Maqaf 2. Construct Form There are two possible indicators that two (or more) words are in a construct chain. One is that there may be a maqaf, the line [ ] ־that connects two words so that they are pronounced together and function like a single word. Regardless of whether or not the maqaf appears (it often does not), the words in a construct chain are always treated like a single word. This means that the first noun(s) in the chain loses its accent, which sometimes causes its vowels to change (the second indicator of a construct chain). The changed form is called the “construct form” of the noun, as opposed to the “absolute form” that the noun has when it appears by itself or as the last word of a construct chain. For example, we can see in the construct chain תוּאל ֵ “ ֶבּן־ ְבּthe son of Bethuel” how the absolute form ֵבּןchanges from a long [ē] to a short [e] in the construct form ֶבּןwhen this word begins a construct chain. This change from a long vowel to a short vowel in a construct form is very common. In class we discussed some basic rules for how the vowels of a noun may change in a construct form. (The vowels may also change in other ways aside from these rules – this is just a place to start.) Basic Changes 1. A long [ā] vowel in a final closed syllable changes to a short [a] vowel (e.g. absolute ָים vs. construct )יַם. Again, this happens because the construct noun is no longer considered a word by itself. Instead, it joins the following absolute noun to become a single word whose accent remains with the absolute noun, so the construct noun loses its stress. 2. The long vowels [ā] and [ē], when unstressed, change into a shewa [ə] (e.g. absolute ָביא ִ נvs. construct )נְ ִביא. When this rule applies to the long vowels [ā] and [ē] under a guttural letter, a reduced vowel is used instead of a shewa. 3. The long vowel [ē] sometimes changes to a short [a] in a final closed syllable (e.g. ֵ זvs. construct ) ְז ַקן. In most cases, however, the long [ē] remains absolute ָקן unchanged. Feminine Singular Suffix The basic rule of regular feminine singular nouns is that the [āh] ending changes to [at] in the ַ vs. construct ) ַמ ְל ַכּת. construct form (e.g. absolute מ ְל ָכּה Plural Suffixes The regular masculine plural [îm] ending changes to [ê] in the construct form (e.g. absolute אָכים ִ ַמ ְלvs. construct ) ַמ ְל ֲא ֵכי. The regular feminine plural [ôt] ending remains unchanged in the construct form (e.g. חוֹמוֹתis both absolute and construct). The other vowel changes discussed above still apply to both masculine and feminine plural words. Unit 12 188 Homework 1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the appropriate word under each picture below. א ֶֹהל a) ָביא ָח ֵצר ִנ ֵע ָשׂו ֵע ָשׂו יכל ָ ֵה ִמ ְצ ַריִ ם c) b) d) f) מ ֶֹשׁה e) g) h) Unit 12 189 ֲארוֹן 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. ָשׁים ֲא ֶשׁר־ ָשׁ ַלח מ ֶֹשׁה ִ ( ָה ֲאנNum. 13:16) the men whom Moses sent ( ְכּ ִלי ָטהוֹרIsa. 66:20) ( ֶאל־ ַה ְתּ ִפ ָלּה1 Kings 8:29) ( לֹא־ ִה ִבּיטNum. 23:21) ( ָכּל־ ִאישׁ וְ ִא ָשּׁהExod. 35:29) ( ַעל־ ַהר ִסינַיExod. 19:20) ( נְ ַחשׁ נְ ח ֶֹשׁתNum. 21:9) 3. Translate the construct chains below. Think about what kind of relationship might be expressed in each phrase. חוֹמה ָ ֶא ֶבן a stone of a wall (a stone that is located in a wall) חוֹמת ֲא ָבנִ ים ַ ִעיר ָח ָמס ֲח ַמס ִעיר ֵעץ גַּן גַּן ֵע ִצים ִאישׁ ָח ְכ ָמה ָח ְכ ַמת ִאישׁ Unit 12 190 4. Read the following rules about the creation of construct forms. Then match the absolute forms on the left to their construct forms on the right and write the number(s) of the rule(s) that apply in each case. ַ ] in a final closed syllable unstressed [ ē / ֵ ] / [ ā / ָ ] → [ ə /ְ] (or a reduced vowel) [ ē / ֵ ] → [ a / ַ ] in a final closed syllable in some words (but usually ָ 1. [ ā / ] → [ a / 2. 3. remains unchanged) 4. feminine singular ending [ āh / Absolute Construct ָח ֵצר ָמקוֹם ָשׂ ָפה ִמ ְשׁ ָפּט ֵל ָבב ָע ָפר ְתּ ִפ ָלּה ָקן ֵז ְמקוֹם ְל ַבב ֲח ַצר ְשׂ ַפת ִמ ְשׁ ַפּט ְתּ ִפ ַלּת ְז ַקן ֲפר ַע [ → ] ָהat / ] ַת Rules Applied 2 and 3 Unit 12 191 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§89, §128 = pp. 247-48, 414-19) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§92, §129 = pp. 275-77, 463-73) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§72-73, §75-76, §78-79 = pp. 67-70, 73-75, 77-79) Unit 12 192 Unit 13 Plural Construct Chains Unit Description: How does Hebrew mark the “of" relationship in plural words? In this unit we will answer this question. We will also read and discuss the story of Cain and Abel. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 195 Unit 13 193 Vocabulary Category Nouns Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English אוֹת ְבּכוֹר ָדּם ’ôt ’ot sign (m.s.) bəkôr bəkhor first-born (m.s.) dām dam blood (m.s.) ֶה ֶבל hébel hével ִמנְ ָחה minhāh minha ֶע ֶבד ‘ébed ’éved ָפּנִ ים pānîm panim face(s) (b.p.) tson (flock(s) of) sheep צֹאן sō’n vapor, breath* (m.s.) gift, tribute, offering (f.s.) servant, slave (m.s.) and goats (f.s.) Proper Nouns ַחוָּה ַקיִ ן ִל ְפנֵי hawwāh hava Eve qáyin káyin Cain lifne in the presence of; lipnê before Prepositions Adverb Verbs / ִמ ְפּנֵי ִמ ִלּ ְפנֵי ַע ָתּה ֵה ִביא mippənê / mipəne / from the presence millipnê milifne of; from before ‘attāh ’ata now hēbî’ hevi he brought in ָע ַבד ‘ābad ’avad m. = masculine f. = feminine b. = both m. and f. s. = singular he worked, he served p. = plural * ֶה ֶבלis often used figuratively for something unsubstantial and/or worthless. Unit 13 194 Slides from the Unit Unit 13 195 Unit 13 196 Unit 13 197 Unit 13 198 Unit 13 199 Unit 13 200 Homework 1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the appropriate word under each picture below. ַקיִ ן a) ַחוָּה ֶה ֶבל ָדּם ִמנְ ָחה ֶע ֶבד ֶה ֶבל c) b) d) f) צֹאן e) g) h) Unit 13 201 ָפּנִ ים 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. ( וְ ַע ָתּה יְ הוָה ֱאל ֵֹהי יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל1 Kgs. 8:25) And now, LORD God of Israel… ָצא ִמ ִלּ ְפנֵי ַה ֶמּ ֶל ְך ָ ( יEst. 8:15) ( ָכּ ֿל־ ְבּכוֹר ְבּ ֶא ֶרץ ִמ ְצ ַריִ םExo. 11:5) ( ֲא ֶשׁר ָע ַבד2 Kgs. 21:21) ( ִל ְפנֵי ִמ ְשׁ ַכּן יְ הוָהLev. 17:4) ( ֵה ִביא יְ הוָה1 Kgs. 9:9) ( ְלאוֹת ִל ְבנֵי יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאלNum. 17:3) 3. Match the absolute forms on the left to their construct forms on the right. Absolute Construct יאים ִ נְ ִב ִמ ְשׁ ָפּ ִטים ֵלילוֹת נְ ָפשׁוֹת ֵכּ ִלים אָבוֹת ָמים ִי ְבּ ֵהמוֹת ֵלילוֹת ֲאבוֹת ְכּ ֵלי יאי ֵ נְ ִב יְ ֵמי ִמ ְשׁ ְפּ ֵטי ַבּ ֲהמוֹת ַפשׁוֹת ְנ Unit 13 202 4. Translate the construct chains below. stones of a wall חוֹמה אַבנֵי ָ ְ ַח ְרבוֹת ָצ ָבא ַע ְב ֵדי ֶמ ֶל ְך אַנְ ֵשׁי ִעיר עֲוֹנוֹת ַעם ֲצי גַּן עֵ ְשׁמוֹת גּוֹיִ ם אָדם דֹּרוֹת ָ Unit 13 203 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§89, §128 = pp. 247-48, 414-19) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§92, §129 = pp. 275-77, 463-73) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§72-73, §75-76, §78-79 = pp. 67-70, 73-75, 77-79) Unit 13 204 Unit 14 Independent Personal Pronouns Unit Description: I, you, he, she… In this unit we will learn about the Hebrew independent personal pronouns. We will illustrate these pronouns within the framework of the story of Cain and Abel. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 210 Unit 14 205 Vocabulary Category Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation כּ ֵֹהן Nouns kōhēn ַשׂר śar English kohen priest (m.s.) sar chieftain, official, captain (m.s.) Proper Nouns Independent Pronouns Preposition Conjunctions Adverb הוּדה ָ ְי / רוּשׁ ַלִם ָ ְי רוּשׁ ַליִ ם ָ ְי ַחנוּ ְ ֲאנ אַתּ ְ אַתּם ֶ / אַתּן ֵ אַתּנָה ֵ ֵהנָּה ְליַד ִאם yəhuda Judah yərushaláyim Jerusalem ’ănáhnû ’anáhnu we (c.) ’att ’at you (f.s.) ’attem ’atem you (m.p.) ’attēn / ’aten / ’attḗnāh ’aténa hḗnnāh héna they (f.) ləyad ləyad beside ’im ’im if, whether גַּם gam gam פֹּה pōh po here, hither ָשׁב ַי yāšab yashav he sat, he dwelled ָע ַמד ‘āmad ’amad yəhûdāh yərûšāláim / yərûšāláyim Verbs m. = masculine f. = feminine c. = common Unit 14 206 s. = singular you (f.p.) also, even, moreover he stood, he stopped p. = plural Slides from the Unit Unit 14 207 Unit 14 208 Unit 14 209 Unit 14 210 Unit 14 211 Unit 14 212 Unit 14 213 Unit 14 214 Unit 14 215 Unit 14 216 Grammatical Remarks In this unit we see the forms of all the independent personal pronouns. (By “independent,” we mean that these pronouns stand apart as individual words, usually as the subject of a sentence.) I אָנ ִֹכי,ֲאנִ י we ַחנוּ ְ ֲאנ you (m.s.) אַתּה ָ you (m.p.) אַתּם ֶ you (f.s.) אַתּ ְ you (f.p.) אַתּנָה ֵ ,אַתּן ֵ he, it (m.) הוּא they (m.) ֵה ָמּה,ֵהם she, it (f.) ִהוא,ִהיא they (f.) ֵהנָּה • The first person forms אָנ ִֹכי/אנִ י ֲ and ַחנוּ ְ ֲאנare “common,” i.e. not gender-specific. • The variant 1cs forms אנִ י ֲ and אָנ ִֹכיare both common in the biblical text, and there doesn’t appear to be any semantic or pragmatic difference between them; both are the pronoun “I.” Likewise, there seems to be no difference in use between the 2fp forms אַתּנָה ֵ and אַתּן ֵ . • The 2ms pronoun אַתּה ָ can also appear without the mater lectionis: אַתּ ָ . • The 2fs pronoun אַתּ ְ is one of the rare cases where a final letter takes a dagesh and a shewa. • The 3fs pronoun has two variants, both of which mean the same thing and are pronounced the same way. The form ִהיאappears most commonly in the Prophets and the Writings. But the Torah/Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) typically uses the form ִהוא, with the consonant of the masculine pronoun and the vowel of the feminine pronoun. • The forms ַחנוּ ְ ֲאנ, אַתּנָה ֵ , ֵה ָמּה, and ֵהנָּהall have a penultimate (second-to-last) accent. • Just as in nouns and adjectives, the masculine plural form is used both for groups that are entirely masculine and for groups that include both masculine and feminine individuals. The feminine plural form is only used when every member of the group is feminine. • Both variants of the 3mp pronoun are common in the biblical text, and there doesn’t appear to be any semantic difference between them. The form ֵהםis the most commonly used form in the Torah, while מּה ָ ֵהis used more in Samuel and some of the poetic books. Unit 14 217 Homework 1. Write the independent personal pronouns (listed below) in the appropriate places on the chart beneath. ַחנוּ ְ ֲאנ אַתּנָה ֵ ֲאנִ י ִהוא אָנ ִֹכי הוּא אַתּ ְ ִהיא Singular אַתּה ָ ֵהם אַתּם ֶ ֵה ָמּה אַתּן ֵ ֵהנָּה Plural ַחנוּ ְ ֲאנ First Person Common Second Person Masculine Second Person Feminine Third Person Masculine Third Person Feminine Unit 14 218 2. Write the following phrases under the picture they describe. (The numbers near the figures in each picture indicate what person they are.) אַתּה י ֵֹשׁב ַעל ַהסּוּס ָ תוֹך ַה ַבּיִ ת ְ אַתּם י ְֹשׁ ִבים ְבּ ֶ ֵה ָמּה י ְֹשׁ ִבים ְליַד ָה ֵעץ אָנ ִֹכי ע ֵֹמד ְליַד ַה ֶדּ ֶר ְך הוּא ע ֵֹמד ִל ְפנֵי ַהסּוּס אַתּ ַבּ ַבּיִ ת ְ ִהיא ַעל ַה ַבּיִ ת ַחנוּ ע ְֹמ ִדים ַבּ ֶדּ ֶר ְך ְ ֲאנ a) ִהיא ַעל ַה ַבּיִ ת c) b) e) d) f) g) h) Unit 14 219 3. Match the Hebrew phrases on the left to their English translations on the right. ( וְ גַם אַנְ ֵשׁי ַה ָמּקוֹםGen. 38:22) ( ָע ַמד ָשׁםGen. 19:27) he stood there ( וְ ִאם־ ִמן־ ַהצֹּאןLev. 1:10) and moreover, the men of the place… ( וְ גַם־פֹּהGen. 40:15) beside the king ( ַשׂר־ ְצ ָבא־יְ הוָהJos. 5:14) the days that he dwelled ָשׁב ַ ָמים ֲא ֶשׁר־י ִ ( ַהיּ1 Sam. 27:7) and even here ( ְליַד ַה ֶמּ ֶל ְך1 Chr. 18:17) the captain of the army of the LORD but if from the flock 4. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. אַתּם ֶ ( ִמי2 Kgs. 10:13) who are you (m.p.)? אַתּ ְ ְ( וJdg. 11:35) ַחנוּ ְ ( וְ גַם־ ֲאנGen. 44:9) רוּשׁ ַל ִם ָ ְ( ָכּל־י2 Kgs. 24:14) אַתּנָה ֵ ְ( וGen. 31:6) הוּדה ָ ְ( ְבּכוֹר יGen. 38:7) ( ֶאל־ ַהכּ ֵֹהןLev. 2:8) Unit 14 220 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§32 = pp. 105-108) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§39 = pp. 119-123; Paradigm 1, p. 656) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§81 = pp. 82-83) Unit 14 221 Unit 15 Pronominal Suffixes Unit Description: In this unit we will learn how Hebrew marks the differences between: "my horse", "your horse" and "his horse". We will also discuss how the biblical Hebrew symbolized the connection between the dove and Noah (Genesis 8). New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 225 Unit 15 223 Vocabulary Category Nouns Numbers Prepositions Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English אָדוֹן ְבּ ִרית ’ādôn ’adon lord, master (m.s.) bərît bərit covenant (f.s.) ֶח ֶסד hésed hésed goodness, kindness (m.s.) ַכּף kap kaf palm (of hand), sole (of foot), pan (f.s.) ק ֶֹדשׁ qṓdeš kódesh apartness, holiness, sacredness (m.s.) ֶק ֶשׁת qéšet késhet bow, rainbow (f.s.) ָשׁלוֹם šālôm shalom completeness, soundness, welfare, peace (m.s.) תּוֹרה ָ tôrāh torah instruction, law, direction (f.s.) ֶא ֶלף ֵמאָה / אַחר ַ אַח ֵרי ֲ ’élep ’élef thousand mē’āh me’a hundred ’ahar / ’ahărê ’ahar / ’ahare behind, after * ֵאת ’ēt ’et with (denotes proximity) ַתּ ַחת táhat táhat underneath, below, instead of ֵה ִקים hēqîm hekim he raised (up), he established ָתן ַנ nātan natan he gave, he put, he set Verbs m. = masculine f. = feminine s. = singular * Before pronominal suffixes: ִא ִתּי, ִא ְתּ ָך, ִא ָתּ ְך, ִאתּוֹ, ִא ָתּהּ, ִא ָתּנוּ, ִא ְתּ ֶכם, ִא ָתּם. Unit 15 224 Slides from the Unit Unit 15 225 Unit 15 226 Unit 15 227 Unit 15 228 Unit 15 229 Unit 15 230 Unit 15 231 Unit 15 232 Grammatical Remarks In this unit we continue our discussion of the pronouns and see what they look like when they are attached to the end of a noun or preposition as a “pronominal suffix”: my horse ( סוּסי ) ִי ִ our horse ( סוּסנוּ ) ֵנוּ ֵ your (m.s.) horse ( סוּס ָך ) ָך ְ your (m.p.) horse ( סוּס ֶכם ) ֶכם ְ your (f.s.) horse ( סוּס ְך ) ְֵך ֵ your (f.p.) horse ( סוּס ֶכן ) ֶכן ְ their (m.) horse ( סוּסם ) ָם ָ their (f.) horse ( סוּסן ) ָן ָ his horse her horse / ( סוּסוֹ ) וֹ ( סוּסֹה ) ֹה ( סוּסהּ ) ָהּ ָ • The 1cp form ֵנוּ- has a penultimate (second-to-last) accent: [-ḗnû]. The first person forms ִי- “me” and ֵנוּ- “us” are “common,” i.e. not gender-specific. • When a suffix beginning with a consonant ( ָך-, ֶכם, ) ֶכןis added, a shewa appears under the final letter of the noun in construct form, e.g. סוּס ָך ְ [sûs-kā]. • Since both וand הcan be used as a mater lectionis for the [o] vowel, there are two variants of the 3ms suffix. The וֹ- suffix is much more common (ֹה- is probably more archaic). • The diacritic point in the 3fs suffix ָהּ- is called a mappiq, and it appears in the הat the end of a word when the הis actually a consonant and not just a mater lectionis. We pronounce the הּas an aspirated [h], like the breathy sound at the beginning of “horse.” (Though the mappiq looks like a dagesh, it is not – remember that guttural letters cannot take the dagesh.) • These are the suffixes that attach to singular nouns. The pronominal suffix forms that attach to plural nouns are similar, but slightly different, and we’ll learn them at a later point. • A מis used for second/third masculine plural forms, and a נis used for the feminine plural. • Though the second person pronominal suffixes have the same final vowel pattern as the independent pronouns, they use the letter ך/ כinstead of ( תcompare 2mp ֶכם- and אַתּם ֶ ). Unit 15 233 Since the pronominal suffixes were originally independent personal pronouns that became attached to the noun or preposition they followed, they have the same characteristics and often a similar form: We used סוּסas an example in this unit because the form of this word remains unchanged when a suffix is added. But whenever the construct form of a noun is different from its absolute form, the pronominal suffixes attach to the construct form. The pronominal suffixes are also used when a pronoun appears after a preposition, e.g. ִלי “to me.” Unit 15 234 Homework 1. Write the pronominal suffixes (listed below) in the appropriate places on the chart beneath. ֵנוּ- ֹה- ָם- ָך- ֶכם- ֶכן- ָן- ִי- ָהּ- וֹ- Singular First Person Common Second Person Masculine Second Person Feminine Third Person Masculine ֹה- / וֹ- Third Person Feminine Unit 15 235 ְֵך- Plural 2. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the appropriate word under each picture below. ַתּ ַחת ָתן ַנ תּוֹרה ָ a) c) ֵמאָה ַכּף ַתּ ַחת ֶק ֶשׁת b) d) e) f) g) Unit 15 236 ֶא ֶלף 3. Match the nouns on the left to the pronouns on the right that indicate the person to which each noun belongs. ַח ְס ִדּי ית ָך ְ ֵבּ ְדּ ָב ֵר ְך ְשׂ ָפ ָתם ִא ְשׁתּוֹ ְבּנָהּ אַתּ ְ אָנ ִֹכי אַתּם ֶ אַתּה ָ ֵהם הוּא אַר ְצ ֶכם ְ ַכּ ְס ֵפּנוּ ַחנוּ ְ ֲאנ ִהיא 4. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. אַד ַמת־ק ֶֹדשׁ ְ (Exo. 3:5) holy ground (lit. “ground of holiness”) ( ַה ֶח ֶסד ַהזֶּה2 Sam. 2:5) אַב ָר ָהם ְ ( ְבּ ִריתוֹ ֶאת־Exo. 2:24) ( ִמי ֵה ִקיםProv. 30:4) אַח ֵרי ַה ְדּ ָב ִרים ָה ֵא ֶלּה ֲ (Gen. 22:20) ( ֶאל־ ֲאדֹנִ יGen. 44:20) אָרץ ֶ ( ָשׁלוֹם ָבּLev. 26:6) Unit 15 237 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§33 = pp. 108- 109; §135m-r = pp. 439-441; Paradigm A, p. 509) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§94 = pp. 285- 291; Paradigm 20, pp. 686-687) Unit 15 238 Unit 16 The Definite Construct Unit Description: The question that we will answer in this unit is how Hebrew marks the difference between “THE son of Jesse” and “A son of Jesse.” We will illustrate these constructions within the framework of the story of Hagar (Genesis 21). New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 240 Unit 16 239 Vocabulary Category Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English אָמה ָ ’āmāh ’ama maid, handmaid (f.s.) ְבּ ֵאר bə’ēr bə’er well, pit (f.s.) mo’ed appointed time, place, מוֹעד ֵ mô‘ēd meeting (m.s.) Nouns melody (technical ִמ ְזמוֹר mizmôr mizmor designation of psalms) (m.s.) ִמ ְל ָח ָמה ְשׁ ֶכם ָתן ָ יְ הוֹנ milhāmāh milhama battle, war (f.s.) šəkem shəkhem shoulder (m.s.) yəhônātān yəhonatan Jonathan ַפּ ְרעֹה par‘ōh par’o ָשׂ ָרה ָשׁאוּל śārāh sara Sarah šā’ûl sha’ul Saul Demonstrative Pronoun זֹאת zō’t zot this (f.) Preposition ִעם ‘im ’im with Adverb עוֹד ‘ôd ’od Verbs ִדּ ֶבּר ָלד ַי dibber diber he spoke yālad yalad he bore, he begot Proper Nouns m. = masculine f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 16 240 Pharaoh (title of Egyptian kings) still, yet, again, besides Slides from the Unit Unit 16 241 Unit 16 242 Unit 16 243 Unit 16 244 Unit 16 245 Unit 16 246 Unit 16 247 Unit 16 248 Grammatical Remarks In this unit we discuss the implications of the basic rule for definiteness in construct chains: *A noun in construct form cannot take the definite article.* Definite Construct Chains When Hebrew wants to make a construct chain definite, the definite article is added to the word in the absolute form, as in מּ ֶל ְך ֶ “ ֵבּית־ ַהthe house of the king.” Because the construct chain is considered to be a single unit in Hebrew, making the absolute form definite makes the entire construct chain definite by extension. This is true even for construct chains composed of more than two nouns, e.g. ה ָצּ ָבא ַ “ = ֶח ֶרב ַשׂרthe sword of the captain of the army.” Since a noun in construct cannot take the definite article, the definite article can only appear on the final noun of a construct chain (which is the only noun that is in the absolute form), no matter how long the construct chain is. Construct Chains with Proper Nouns Proper nouns are automatically definite because they indicate a specific person (or place), so they do not take the definite article. (The same is true for nouns with a pronominal suffix, e.g. מ ְל ִכּי ַ “my king.”) This creates some ambiguity in construct chains in which the word in absolute form is a proper noun. Typically we understand such a construct chain to be definite, e.g. “ ֵבּית־ ָדּוִ דthe house of David”; but since there is no way to make the proper noun indefinite, the word in construct might also be understood to be indefinite, depending on the context. For example, in Genesis 22:11 (the story of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac), 'אַך ה ְ ַמ ְלis often translated “the angel of the LORD” because “LORD” is a proper noun and therefore is automatically definite. In this context, however, 'אַך ה ְ ַמ ְלmight be better translated, “an angel of the LORD,” since this angel appears suddenly in the story and doesn’t seem to be any specific angel. ַ ִ ֶבּן־יclearly refers to a specific son But in the context of 1 Samuel 20:27, the construct chain שׁי (i.e. David, who is mentioned earlier in the verse); so שׁי ַ ִ ֶבּן־יis translated, “the son of Jesse.” “A [noun] of [proper noun]” Other than the context, Hebrew has no way to specifically mark that the first part of a construct chain that ends in a proper noun is indefinite. In order to do this, Hebrew must use a completely different construction: ___“ ___ ְלa [noun] of / belonging to [proper noun].” For example, ֵבּן “ = ְליִ ַשׁיa son of Jesse.” This is not a construct chain – it is [absolute noun] + [preposition ] ְל+ [absolute noun]. We see this phrase in 1 Samuel 16:18. The speaker there doesn’t know David specifically, and he knows Jesse has many sons, so he simply refers to David as “a son of Jesse.” Unit 16 249 Note on the Prepositions ל/ כּ/ בּ As we saw in class, when the preposition ְלis prefixed to a word that begins with a shewa, the shewa under the לchanges to a hireq (short [i] vowel), as in ִל ְשׁלֹמֹה. This is because Hebrew cannot begin a word with two consecutive shewas. The same is also true for the prepositions ְבּand ְכּ. Unit 16 250 Homework 1. Match each Hebrew phrase with its corresponding English translation. ( ְבּמוֹעֲדוֹNum. 9:2) upon her shoulder ( ַעל־ ִשׁ ְכ ָמהּGen. 24:15) from this land ( עוֹד ֶאל־ ַה ְבּ ֵארGen. 24:20) at its appointed time אָרץ ַהזֹּאת ֶ ( ִמן־ ָהGen. 50:24) who bore? ( ַצ ִדּיק ִעם־ ָר ָשׁעGen. 18:23) again to the well ( ָכּל־ ַה ְדּ ָב ִרים ֲא ֶשׁר־ ִדּ ֶבּרExo. 4:30) with this man ( ִמי ָי ַלדIsa. 49:21) all the words that he spoke ( ִעם־ ָה ִאישׁ ַהזֶּהGen. 24:58) righteous with wicked 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. ( ִמ ְזמוֹר ְל ָדוִ דPsa. 3:1) a melody/psalm of David ( ְבּ ֵאר ַמיִ םGen. 26:19) ( ַחיֵּי ָשׂ ָרהGen. 23:1) אָמה ָ ( ֶבּן־ ָהGen. 21:13) ָתן ָ ( ֵבּן ִליהוֹנ2 Sam. 9:3) ( ַע ְב ֵדי ָשׁאוּל1 Sam. 18:23) ֲב ִדים ְל ַפ ְרעֹה ָ ( עGen. 47:19) ( ָכּל־אַנְ ֵשׁי ַה ִמּ ְל ָח ָמהDeut. 2:16) Unit 16 251 3. Make each of the following phrases definite, then translate. קוֹל ִא ָשּׁה קוֹל ָה ִא ָשּׁה the voice of the woman כּוֹכ ֵבי ָשׁ ַמיִ ם ְ יכל ָ ֲח ַצר ֵה ח ֶֹשׁ ְך ַליְ ָלה ֹהנֵי ִמ ְשׁ ָכּן ֲכּ ֶלד ֶ ְפּנֵי י ַשׁ ַער ִעיר 4. Write the following phrases in Hebrew, using the words in the chart below. Names Absolute Form Construct Form אַב ָר ָהם ְ ֵבּן ֶבּן־ ָדּוִ ד ַבּיִ ת ֵבּית־ מ ֶֹשׁה ָדּ ָבר ְדּ ַבר־ ִמ ְצ ַריִ ם ֶמ ֶל ְך ֶמ ֶל ְך־ a son of Abraham אַב ָר ָהם ְ ֵבּן ְל the word of Moses the king of Egypt a house of David a word of Moses the son of Abraham a king of Egypt the house of David Unit 16 252 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§127 = pp. 410-413; §129c-d = pp. 419-420) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§130 = pp. 473-477; §139 = pp. 516-519) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§72 = pp. 67-70) Unit 16 253 Unit 17 Nominal Sentences Unit Description: Why doesn't Hebrew need a verb in order to create a sentence? In this unit we will learn how Hebrew creates nominal sentences. We will also discuss what happened between Jacob and Rachel near the well (Genesis 29). New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 255 Unit 17 255 Vocabulary Category Nouns Number Proper Nouns Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English ח ֶֹדשׁ hōd́ eš hódesh new moon, month (m.s.) ִמ ְקנֶה miqneh miqne livestock (inc. cows, sheep, etc.) (m.s.) ַמ ְר ֶאה mar’eh mar’e sight, appearance, vision (m.s.) ֵע ֶדר ֵעת ֶר ֶחם ַר ֲח ִמים ָשׁלֹשׁ ֵלאָה ָר ֵחל ִשׁ ְמעוֹן ‘ḗder ’éder flock, herd (m.s.) ‘ēt ’et time, season (f.s.) réhem réhem womb (m.s.) rahămîm rahamim compassion (m.p.) šālōš shalosh three (f.) lē’āh le’a Leah rāhēl rahel Rachel šim‘ôn shim’on Simeon Interjection ֵהן hēn hen behold!, “see (here), …” (draws attention to what follows)* Adverb אַך ְ ’ak ’akh surely, but (may contrast other ideas) Verbs ִר ַחם ָשׂנֵא riham riham he had compassion śānē’ sane he hated m. = masculine f. = feminine s. = singular p. = plural * This interjection similar to ִהנֵּה, but is usually used to draw attention to a fact that underlies a proposed action or conclusion. Unit 17 256 Slides from the Unit Unit 17 257 Unit 17 258 Unit 17 259 Unit 17 260 Unit 17 261 Unit 17 262 Unit 17 263 Unit 17 264 Unit 17 265 Grammatical Remarks Nominal Sentences One of the characteristic phenomena of the Hebrew language is the common use of “nominal sentences,” which don’t require a verb (unlike English sentences). The most basic type of nominal sentence is created by juxtaposing two nouns or a noun and an adjective, so that one noun is the subject of the sentence and the other is the predicate (the part of the sentence that says something new about the subject). Not every noun-noun or noun-adjective pair creates a sentence. For example, neither “ ַבּיִ ת גָּדוֹלa large house” nor “ ַה ַבּיִ ת ַהגָּדוֹלthe large house” are sentences. A construct chain also combines two nouns without creating a sentence, such as in “ ֵבּית ִאישׁa man’s house” or “ ֵבּית ָה ִאישׁthe man’s house.” (Even if the context didn’t make it clear, the construct form of ֵבּיתtells us that we have a construct chain here and not two independent nouns.) The basic rule of nominal sentences is that when two absolute nouns (or a noun and an adjective) that have the same level of definiteness are juxtaposed, they do not create a sentence; but when they differ in their level of definiteness, a nominal sentence is created. For example, both elements in “ ַבּיִ ת גָּדוֹלa large house” are indefinite, and both elements in “ ַה ַבּיִ ת ַהגָּדוֹלthe large house” are definite, so neither phrase is a sentence. But in ַה ַבּיִ ת גָּדוֹלor גָּדוֹל ַה ַבּיִ ת, the definite noun ַה ַבּיִ תis more definite than the indefinite adjective גָּדוֹל, creating a nominal sentence: “The house is large.” Note the subject and predicate may appear in any order, so we must understand the subject by the context (also, the subject is typically the more definite of the pair). Most nominal sentences express a state of being, so we translate with the English verb “to be” (the tense depends on the context). When a noun is paired with an adjective in a nominal sentence, as in מה ָ “ ָה ִא ָשּׁה ֲח ָכthe woman is wise,” the adjective agrees with the noun in number and gender. When two nouns are juxtaposed, as in תּוֹרה נֵר ָ “ ַהthe law is a lamp,” each retains its own gender and number. A construct chain can stand as one of the elements in a nominal sentence. For example, in the sentence, “ ֵבּית ָה ִאישׁ גָּדוֹלthe man’s house is large,” “ ֵבּית ָה ִאישׁthe man’s house” is considered to be a single definite unit, since a construct chain functions as a single idea in Hebrew. Levels of Definiteness There are three different levels of definiteness that we see in the Hebrew language. Whenever two elements from different levels are combined, a nominal sentence is created. Remember, the important thing for creating a nominal sentence is to have a difference in the level of definiteness. 1. Indefinite noun or adjective, e.g. “ ַבּיִ תa house” or “ גָּדוֹלlarge.” Unit 17 266 2. Definite: a. Definite Article, e.g. ה ַבּיִ ת ַ “the house.” b. Pronominal Suffix, e.g. “ ֵבּיתוֹhis house.” A pronominal suffix makes a noun definite by ascribing it to a specific person. Therefore, “ ֵבּיתוֹ ַהגָּדוֹלhis large house” is a simple phrase made up of two definite nouns, whereas “ ֵבּיתוֹ גָּדוֹלhis house is large” is a nominal sentence because ֵבּיתוֹis definite and גָּדוֹלis not. c. Proper Noun, e.g. “ ָדּוִ דDavid.” Any person/place name is automatically definite because it refers to someone or something specific. Therefore, מּ ֶל ְך ֶ “ ָדּוִ ד ַהKing David” is a simple phrase made up of two definite nouns, whereas מ ֶל ְך ֶ “ ָדּוִ דDavid is (a) king” is a nominal sentence because ָדּוִ דis definite and מ ֶל ְך ֶ is not. 3. Most Definite: a. Personal Pronouns, e.g. אנִ י ֲ “I.” The independent personal pronouns are also automatically definite. In fact, they are even more definite than simple definite nouns like מּ ֶל ְך ֶ ַהbecause they are more specific in their designation. For example, in the sentence מּ ֶל ְך ֶ “ ֲאנִ י ַהI am the king,” many different kings may be described by “the king,” but only one person, i.e. the speaker himself, can be described by the pronoun “I.” Of course מ ֶל ְך ֶ “ ֲאנִ יI am a king” would also be a nominal sentence. b. Demonstrative Pronouns, e.g. “ זֶהthis.” Just like the independent personal pronouns, the demonstrative pronouns are more definite than regular definite nouns because they are more specific in their designation. For example, מּ ֶל ְך ֶ “ = זֶה ַהThis is the king.” Note: If it doesn’t seem to make sense that pronouns are more definite than anything else, ignore the above explanations and just remember that a pronoun combined with any noun or adjective will usually make a nominal sentence ☺ Unit 17 267 Homework 1. Match each Hebrew phrase with its corresponding English translation. ִר ַחם יְ ה ָוה (Psa. 103:13) to Leah his mother ( ֶאל־ ֵלאָה ִאמּוֹGen. 30:14) behold, I am a tree ( ְכּ ַמ ְר ֵאה נְ ח ֶֹשׁתEze. 40:3) ( ֵהן ֲאנִ י ֵעץIsa. 56:3) אַך ִהנֵּה ִא ְשׁ ְתּ ָך ִהוא ְ (Gen. 26:9) the LORD has compassion between the livestock of Israel like the appearance of bronze ( ָכּל־ ֶר ֶחם ִבּ ְבנֵי יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאלExo. 13:2) ֵבּין ִמ ְקנֵה יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל but see, she is your wife (Exo. 9:4) which the LORD your God hates יך ָ ֲא ֶשׁר ָשׂנֵא יְ הוָה ֱאל ֶֹה every womb among the children of Israel (Deut. 16:22) 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. ( ִהוא ֵלאָהGen. 29:25) She is Leah. ֲד ִרים ָ ( ָכל־ ָהעGen. 29:3) ( ְבּא ֶֹהל ָר ֵחלGen. 31:33) ( ַשׁ ַער ִשׁ ְמעוֹןEze. 48:33) וּב ַר ֲח ִמים ְ וּב ֶח ֶסד ְ וּב ִמ ְשׁ ָפּט ְ (Hos. 2:21) ( ַבּח ֶֹדשׁ ָה ִראשׁוֹן ַבּ ָשּׁנָהExo. 40:17) ( ֵעת ִמ ְל ָח ָמה וְ ֵעת ָשׁלוֹםEcc. 3:8) ( ָשׁלֹשׁ ָשׁנִ יםJdg. 9:22) Unit 17 268 3. Tell whether each phrase below is a nominal sentence or not, and translate. ָקן ֵ ָה ִאישׁ ז yes The man is old. ַחיָּה ְט ֵמאָה ֵא ֶלּה ַה ָיּ ִמים אַתּה ֲאדֹנִ י ָ ֶבּן־ ָדּוִ ד ֶה ָח ָכם ֹהנִ ים ֲ ַחנוּ כּ ְ ֲאנ ְבּנוֹ ַה ָקּטֹן ֵלב־ ַה ַנּ ַער ָטהוֹר Unit 17 269 4. Write the following phrases in Hebrew, using the words in the chart below. Indefinite Form Definite Form ָשׁים ִ ֲאנ ֶא ֶרץ דוֹלה ָ ְגּ ְדּ ָר ִכים ֲח ָכ ִמים יְ ָשׁרוֹת ֶמ ֶל ְך ַצ ִדּיק ָשׁים ִ ָה ֲאנ אָרץ ֶ ָה דוֹלה ָ ַה ְגּ ַה ְדּ ָר ִכים ַה ֲח ָכ ִמים ַהיְּ ָשׁרוֹת ַה ֶמּ ֶל ְך ַה ַצּ ִדּיק The king is righteous. ַה ֶמּ ֶל ְך ַצ ִדּיק/ ַצ ִדּיק ַה ֶמּ ֶל ְך the wise men straight paths The land is great. The men are wise. the great land The paths are straight. a righteous king Unit 17 270 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§140-141 = pp. 450-454) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§154 = pp. 564-577) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§60 = pp. 55) *Joüon-Muraoka has the best discussion on this topic. Unit 17 271 Unit 18 Nominal Sentences, Con't Unit Description: In this unit we will meet different ways to create nominal sentences in Hebrew. We will demonstrate how the author of Proverbs 6:23 plays with nominal sentences in order to design a challenging proverb. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 270 Unit 18 273 Vocabulary Category Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation ִמ ְצוָה miswāh mitsva ֶק ֶרב qéreb kérev inward part, midst (m.s.) ַען ַ ְכּנ kəná‘an kəná’an Canaan ְכּ ַנעֲנִ י kəna‘ănî kəna’ani Canaanite ָח ֵמשׁ hāmēš hamesh five (f.) ֲח ִמ ִשּׁים hămiššîm hamishim fifty ְל ַמ ַען ləmá‘an ləmá’an for the sake of; in order that ַעד ‘ad ’ad אַף ’ap ’af אָז ’āz ’az as far as, up to, until also, more than this at that time, then ֵאין ’ên ’en there is/are not יֵשׁ yēš yesh there is/are ַרק raq rak only, altogether, surely ָה ַרג hārag harag he killed ָע ַבר ‘ābar ’avar he passed over / through / by Nouns Proper Nouns Numbers Prepositions Conjunction Adverbs Verbs m. = masculine English commandment f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 18 274 (f.s.) Slides from the Unit Unit 18 275 Unit 18 276 Unit 18 277 Unit 18 278 Unit 18 279 Unit 18 280 Unit 18 281 Grammatical Remarks In this unit we continue our discussion about nominal sentences, explaining three more common ways in which Hebrew can create a sentence without using a verb. Adverbial Predicate Example: “ = ָה ִאישׁ ַבּ ַבּיִ תThe man is in the house.” A nominal sentence can be created by placing an adverb (often a preposition) at the beginning of the predicate. Adverbs of place (as shown in the example above) are the most common, though there are other types. These are some prepositions/adverbs in your vocabulary list that can serve ֲ , “( ֵאתwith”), - ְבּ, ַבּיִ ן, תוֹך ְ ְבּ, - ְכּ, - ְל, ְליַד, ִל ְפנֵי, ִמן, ַעל, ִעם, as adverbial predicates: אַח ֵרי פֹּה, ָשׁם, ַתּ ַחת. Existential Predicate Example: “ = יֵשׁ ִאישׁ ַבּ ַבּיִ תThere is a man in the house.” Another major type of nominal sentence is that which has an existential predicate. The Hebrew word “ יֵשׁthere is / there are” is an adverb of existence, not a verb as in English. When used in a nominal sentence, יֵשׁserves as the predicate. Unlike the English phrases “there is / there are,” the single Hebrew word יֵשׁis used with both singular and plural subjects. Example: “ = ֵאין ִאישׁ ַבּ ַבּיִ תThere is not a man in the house.” The Hebrew word אין ֵ “there is/are not” is an adverb of non-existence, not a verb. When used in a nominal sentence, אין ֵ serves as the predicate. Like יֵשׁ, the word ֵאיןcan be used with either a singular or a plural subject. For example, ָשׁים ַבּ ַבּיִ ת ִ “ = ֵאין ֲאנThere are not men in the house.” Interrogative Pronoun Example: “ = ִמי ָה ִאישׁ ַבּ ַבּיִ תWho is the man in the house?” A third additional type of nominal sentence is that which begins with an interrogative pronoun, ָ “what”, etc. (Technically, this is just an extension of the such as “ ִמיwho,” “ אַיֵּהwhere,” מה rule we learned in Unit 17 that a pronoun combined with almost any noun or adjective creates a sentence.) One Final Note on Nominal Sentences: Be aware that are cases (especially in poetry, though this also happens in narrative prose) in which the nominal sentence is unmarked, i.e. the subject and predicate show no difference in the level of definiteness. In these cases, the reader must decide by the context and by common sense which element is the subject and which is the predicate. Unit 18 282 Homework 1. Using the Unit 18 vocabulary list, fill in the crossword puzzle below with the correct Hebrew words. Each square will hold one consonant or vowel letter (mater lectionis); disregard the vowel pointing. 1. 3. Across: 2. commandment 4. Canaan 5. he passed 6. there is/are not 2. 4. ן ע נ כּ Down: 1. for the sake of 3. he killed 4. Canaanite 6. also; more than this 5. 6. Unit 18 283 2. Write the number of the correct translation after each phrase. אַתּה יְ הוָה ְבּ ֶק ֶרב ָה ָעם ַהזֶּה ָ (Num. 14:14) אַך יְ הוָה הוּא ְ ָדע ִכּי־ ַמ ְל ַ ( אָז יJdg. 13:21) ( ִמן־ ַהבּ ֶֹקר ַעד־ ָה ֶע ֶרבExo. 18:13) תוֹך ָה ִעיר ְ יקם ְבּ ִ ( ֲח ִמ ִשּׁים ַצ ִדּGen. 18:26) ָביא ְבּיִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל ִ ( יֵשׁ נ2 Kgs. 5:8) ( ֲח ֵמשׁ ֵמאוֹת ָשׁנָהGen. 5:32) ָד ָך ְ ( ַמה־יֵּשׁ ַתּ ַחת־י1 Sam. 21:4) ֹהנִ ים ֲ אַד ַמת ַהכּ ְ ( ַרקGen. 47:22) 1. from the morning until the evening 2. five hundred years 3. there is a prophet in Israel 4. only the land of the priests 5. you, LORD, are in the midst of this people 6. what is there under your hand? 7. fifty righteous within the city 8. then he knew that he was an angel of the LORD Unit 18 284 5 3. Using the words given below, create at least eight nominal sentences in Hebrew; then translate those sentences into English. Indefinite Nouns Definite Nouns Interrogatives Adverbs Prepositions א ֶֹהל יָד ָהא ֶֹהל ַהיָּד ָמה ִמי ֵאין יֵשׁ -ְבּ ְליַד ֶלד ֶי ֶלד ֶ ַהיּ ְכּ ִלי ַה ְכּ ִלי ִמי ָבּא ֶֹהל who is in the tent? Unit 18 285 4. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. ( ִכּי ֵאין יְ הוָה ְבּ ִק ְר ְבּ ֶכםNum. 14:42) ָשׁים ָה ֵא ֶלּה ִ ( ִמי ָה ֲאנNum. 22:9) for the LORD is not in your midst ( ַמה־ ְשּׁמוֹExo. 3:13) ( יֵשׁ יְ הוָה ַבּ ָמּקוֹם ַהזֶּהGen. 28:16) ( אַיֵּה ָה ֵע ֶדרJer. 13:20) ( ִכּי ֵאין ֶל ֶחם וְ ֵאין ַמיִ םNum. 21:5) ( ָמה ָה ֲא ָבנִ ים ָה ֵא ֶלּהJosh. 4:6) ( ִמי ָה ִאישׁ ֶה ָח ָכםJer. 9:11) Unit 18 286 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§140-141 = pp. 450-454) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§154 = pp. 564-577) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§60 = pp. 55) *Joüon-Muraoka has the best discussion on this topic. Unit 18 287 Unit 19 Review: Ruth Unit Description: The goal of this unit is to slow down a little bit and to look backward to what we achieved until now. We will review the previous grammatical materials with the framework of the story of Ruth and Naomi (Ruth 1). How can the characters’ names illuminate the story? – This will be one of the questions that we will ask ourselves. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 285 Unit 19 289 Vocabulary Category Nouns Proper Nouns Adjectives Number Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English sin, ַח ָטּאת hattā’t hatat ָמוֶת mā́wet mávet ַמ ֲחנֶה mahăneh mahaneh ִמ ְשׁ ָפּ ָחה mišpāhāh mishpaha ָר ָעב rā‘āb ra’av מוֹאָב ֳמי ִ ָנע רוּת ִגּבּוֹר ֵשׁנִ י אַחת ַ mô’āb mo’av Moab no‘ŏmî no’omi Naomi rût rut Ruth gibbôr gibor strong, mighty šēnî sheni second ’ahat ’ahat one (f.) sin-offering (f.s.) death (m.s.) encampment, camp (m.s.) clan, family (f.s.) famine, hunger (m.s.) thus, here Adverb כֹּה ko kōh (usually points to what follows) ָע ַזב ’azav ‘āzab he left, he abandoned he attended to, Verbs ָפּ ַקד paqad pāqad he visited; he appointed ָשׁ ַפט m. = masculine shafat šāpat f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 19 290 he judged, he governed Slides from the Unit Unit 19 291 Unit 19 292 Unit 19 293 Unit 19 294 Unit 19 295 Unit 19 296 Unit 19 297 Grammatical Remarks The primary goal of this unit is to review previous material, but we do encounter a couple of new grammatical points as we begin our reading in the book of Ruth. Translating Prepositions Because different languages use prepositions in different ways, we may find cases where we’ll have to use an English preposition when we translate a Hebrew phrase that doesn’t use one. For example, the phrase הוּדה ָ ְ ֵבּית ֶל ֶחם יin Ruth 1:1 is translated “Bethlehem in Judah,” even though the preposition “ בin” doesn’t actually appear in the Hebrew here. (Sometimes a relationship like this is meant to be understood from the context, even when no preposition is used.) There are also cases in which Hebrew uses a preposition (especially after a verb) that we wouldn’t use in English, and we don’t have to include these prepositions in our translation. For example, in the phrase “ אַל־ ִתּ ְפ ְגּ ִעי־ ִביdon’t urge me” (Ruth 1:16), we don’t have to use a preposition in English. Even though this particular Hebrew verb uses the preposition בbefore the object pronoun (“me”), in English we would place the object pronoun directly after the verb, so this is how we should translate. Gentilic Suffix The words א ְפ ָר ִתים ֶ “Ephrathites” (Ruth 1:2) and ֹא ִביּוֹת ֲ “ מMoabite” (Ruth 1:4) both have what we call a “gentilic suffix.” This kind of suffix appears on words that express a person’s nationality (compare –an in “American,” –i in “Israeli,” –ite in “Moabite,” etc.). Here is the full paradigm of the gentilic suffix, showing examples with the Unit 18 vocabulary word ְכּ ַנעֲנִ י “Canaanite”: Masculine Feminine Singular Plural ִ י- (e.g. ) ְכּ ַנעֲנִ י ִ ית- / ִ ָיּה- (e.g. ) ְכּ ַנעֲנִ ית ִ ים- (e.g. ) ְכּ ַנעֲנִ ים ִ יּוֹת- (e.g. ) ְכּ ַנעֲנִ יּוֹת As we see in the feminine singular gentilic suffix, the letter תcan mark a feminine singular noun or adjective, just like the suffix ָה-. We see this תsuffix in the word שׁנִ ית ֵ “second (f.)” in Ruth 1:4, and we’ve already seen it on feminine singular construct endings (e.g. מ ְל ַכּת ַ “queen of”). Unit 19 298 Homework 1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the appropriate word under each picture below. ָשׁ ַפט a) ֵשׁנִ י ָעזַב ָעזַב ַמ ֲחנֶה ָמוֶת ִגּבּוֹר c) b) d) f) מוֹאָב e) g) h) Unit 19 299 אַחת ַ 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. ( ִכּי־ ָפ ַקד יְ הוָה ְצ ָבאוֹתZech. 10:3) for the LORD of hosts/armies visited ( אָנ ִֹכי רוּתRuth 3:9) ( ָה ָר ָעב ָה ִראשׁוֹןGen. 26:1) ( ָכּל־ ִמ ְשׁ ְפּחֹת ָה ֲא ָד ָמהGen. 28:14) ( ַח ָטּאת הוּאExo. 29:14) אָמר ָה ִאישׁ ַ כֹּה־ (1 Sam. 9:9) אתי ִ ( ַמה ַח ָטּGen. 31:36) ֳמי ִ ( ֵבּן ְל ָנעRuth 4:17) 3. Review the material in units 1-18. Unit 19 300 Unit 20 Qatal Verbs Unit Description: After discussing Hebrew nouns and adjectives, in this unit we will start the third part of the first course – 'The verb'. We will learn about the morphology of the suffix conjugation called "Qatal". We will see that there is a clear connection between the different persons and the independent pronouns. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 300 Unit 20 301 Vocabulary Category Nouns Proper Nouns Numbers Verbs m. = masculine Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English אַריֵה ְ ’aryēh ’arye lion (m. s.) ֵאשׁ ’ēš ’esh fire (f. s.) ֶדּ ֶלת délet délet door (f. s.) ִמ ְד ָבּר midbār midbar wilderness (m. s.) ַמ ֶטּה matteh mate ַר ֵדּן ְי yardēn yarden Jordan ִר ְב ָקה ribqāh rivka Rebekah אַר ַבּע ְ ’arba‘ ’arba four (f.) אַר ָבּ ִעים ְ ’arbā‘îm ’arba’im forty ָבּ ַרח bārah barah he fled ָפל ַנ nāpal nafal he fell ָשׂא ָנ nāśā’ nasa ָסגַר sāgar sagar he shut, he closed ָפּ ַתח pātah patah he opened ָר ַדף rādap radaf f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 20 302 staff, branch; tribe (m. s.) he lifted, he carried he chased, he pursued Slides from the Unit Unit 20 303 Unit 20 304 Unit 20 305 Unit 20 306 Unit 20 307 Unit 20 308 Unit 20 309 Unit 20 310 Grammatical Remarks In this unit we begin our discussion of Hebrew verbs. Like the nouns, Hebrew verbs are composed of a root and a pattern (in Course A we’re learning only the basic pattern, called “Qal” – we’ll learn the other patterns in Course B). In contrast to English, the Hebrew verb declines according to person, gender, and number, so each conjugation has a different form for almost every subject. Many different terms have been used by Biblical Hebrew scholars to describe the various verb forms. We name each verb conjugation after the 3ms (third person masculine singular) form, using the example root ל-ט-ק. For example, in this unit we learn about the “Qatal” form, whose 3ms form is טל ַ ָק. We choose to name the verbs in this way (rather than using terms like “past,” “perfect,” etc.) because this method doesn’t bring into the morphological discussion any assumptions about the meaning of the verb form. For each conjugation, we’ll address the form first, then the meaning. The Qatal Verb This verb form is also known as the “suffix conjugation” because the subject pronoun of the verb is attached to the basic (third masculine singular) form as a suffix. For the purposes of this unit, we’ll translate the Qatal form as a simple past tense. But the meaning of the Qatal verb is more complex than this, so we’ll discuss the use of this form in further detail over the next two units. As with the pronominal suffixes, many Qatal suffixes are similar to the corresponding independent pronouns. This connection is clear in the first and second person forms, though it is not as evident in the third person. The full paradigm of the forms is in your workbook, but here are a few extra notes: • The 3ms form has the suffix Ø (i.e. it looks like it has no suffix at all). • The 3fs suffix ָה- is the same feminine singular suffix seen on nouns and adjectives. • The third person plural suffix וּ- is “common” (used for masculine and/or feminine groups). • The 1cs, 2ms, and 1cp forms have a penultimate (second-to-last) accent. Every other form is accented on the last syllable. Note: Because the verbal suffixes are so specific about the subject of each verb, a separate subject pronoun (e.g. ס ַגר ָ “ הוּאhe closed”) isn’t necessary in Hebrew. But if no separate subject is written, English (whose verb forms are not so specific) requires us to translate the subject pronoun anyway. Unit 20 311 Homework 1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the appropriate word under each picture below. אַר ַבּע ְ a) אַריֵה ְ ִמ ְד ָבּר ֵאשׁ ֶדּ ֶלת ִמ ְד ָבּר ָפל ַנ c) b) e) d) f) ַמ ֶטּה g) h) Unit 20 312 ָשׂא ָנ 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. ( ֲאדֹנָי יְ הוִ ה ָפּ ַתח־ ִליIsa. 50:5) the LORD GOD opened for me ( וְ ָדוִ ד ָבּ ַרח1 Sam. 19:18) אָמ ָרה ֶאל־ ַי ֲעקֹב ְבּנָהּ ְ ( וְ ִר ְב ָקהGen. 27:6) אַח ֵרי ְבּנֵי ַי ֲעקֹב ֲ ( וְ לֹא ָר ְדפוּGen. 35:5) ָה ֲא ָבנִ ים ָה ֵא ֶלּה ֲא ֶשׁר ָל ְקחוּ ( ִמן־ ַה ַיּ ְר ֵדןJosh. 4:20) ( וַיהוָה ָסגַר ַר ְח ָמהּ1 Sam. 1:5) אַר ָבּ ִעים ַליְ ָלה ְ ְאַר ָבּ ִעים יוֹם ו ְ אָכ ְל ִתּי ַ ( ֶל ֶחם לֹאDeut. 9:18) 3. Write the Qatal verbs below in the appropriate places in the chart. אָכלוּ ְ יְ ַשׁ ְב ֶתּם ַר ִתּי ְ ָסג ָשׁ ַמ ְענוּ ָר ַדף ָשׁ ַכ ְב ָתּ ְשׁ ַל ְח ֶתּן ָפ ְל ְתּ ַנ Singular ָפּ ְת ָחה Plural First Person Common Second Person Masculine Second Person Feminine Third Person Masculine אָכלוּ ְ Third Person Feminine אָכלוּ ְ Unit 20 313 ָ for each subject in theה ַל ְך 4. Write the appropriate form of the Qatal verb sentences below, then translate. ) (1 Sam. 10:26וְ ַגם־ ָשׁאוּל ָה ַל ְך ְל ֵביתוֹ ”“And Saul also went to his home. And you (m.p.) also went to your home. ית ֶכם אַתּם ֲה ַל ְכ ֶתּם ְל ֵב ְ וְ ַגם־ ֶ ָשׁים וְ ַגם־ ָה ֲאנ ִ וְ ַגם־ ָר ֵחל ַחנוּ וְ ַגם־ ֲאנ ְ אַתּ וְ ַגם־ ְ ָשׁים וְ ַגם־ ַהנּ ִ אַתּה וְ ַגם־ ָ וְ ַגם־ ֲאנִ י אַתּנָה וְ ַגם־ ֵ Unit 20 314 יתם ְל ֵב ָ יתהּ ְל ֵב ָ יתנוּ ְל ֵב ֵ ית ְך ְל ֵב ֵ יתן ְל ֵב ָ ית ָך ְל ֵב ְ יתי ְל ֵב ִ ית ֶכן ְל ֵב ְ Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§44 = pp. 119-122) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§42 = pp. 120-23) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§43 = pp. 37-38) Unit 20 315 Unit 21 Translating Qatal Unit Description: What is the meaning of the Qatal form, and how do we translate it into English? These will be the questions that we will ask in this unit. We will also learn how Hebrew marks the definite direct object. We will illustrate these topics using a variety of verses from the Bible. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 315 Unit 21 317 Vocabulary Category Nouns Proper Nouns Definite Direct Object Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation ְגּבוּל gəbûl gəvul border, boundary, territory (m.s.) ֲחלוֹם hălôm halom dream (m.s.) ֶח ְר ָפּה herpāh herpa reproach, disgrace (f.s.) לוּכה ָ ְמ məlûkāh məlukha kingship, royalty (f.s.) ֵס ֶפר sḗper séfer letter, document, book, scroll (m.s.) ָשׂ ָכר śākār sakhar wages, reward (m.s.) יוֹסף ֵ ָל ָבן ַעמּוֹן ְפּ ִל ְשׁ ִתּי yôsēp yosef Joseph lābān lavan Laban ‘ammôn ’amon Ammon pəlištî pəlishti Philistine ֵאת ’ēt ’et (marks definite direct object of the verb) אָסף ַ ’āsap ’asaf he gathered, he removed ָח ַלם hālam halam he dreamed ָל ַכד lākad lakhad he captured, he seized נִ ְל ַחם nilham nilham he fought (i.e. engaged in battle) Marker Verbs m. = masculine English f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 21 318 Slides from the Unit Unit 21 319 Unit 21 320 Unit 21 321 Unit 21 322 Unit 21 323 Unit 21 324 Grammatical Remarks In this unit we continue our study of the Qatal verb (the “suffix conjugation”) by examining the common ways in which this verb might be translated in various contexts. The Hebrew Verbal System It is important to keep in mind that the biblical Hebrew verbal system is different in many aspects from the English verbal system. Because of this, we shouldn’t expect that a given form (Qatal, for example) will have an exact parallel tense in English. One of the notable characteristics of the Hebrew verbal system, in contrast to English, is the relatively small number of verbal forms. The fact that Hebrew has fewer forms than English often creates a situation in which one Hebrew form covers the uses of two or more English forms. We will emphasize this point later as well, but it may be helpful to note at this stage that biblical Hebrew uses a “relative” tense system rather than an “absolute” tense system. English has an “absolute” verbal system, meaning that each verb form has an absolute temporal meaning that relates to the time of speaking: actions that occur before the speech time are in the past tense, those that occur at the time of speaking are in the present tense, and those that will occur after the speech time are in the future tense. Because Hebrew is a “relative” system, each verb form derives its meaning from its contextual relationship to other verbs around it. The Qatal form, for example, does not have an “absolute” meaning that is distinct from its context; rather, it takes its meaning from its chronological position “relative to” its context. Translating Qatal – Direct Speech Qatal is commonly used in direct speech to express an action that occurred before the time of speaking. In other words, the Qatal verb is used for an action that is in the past relative to the present time of the speaker. Therefore, we may usually translate the Qatal verb in direct speech with either the simple past (e.g. “we heard”) or the present perfect (e.g. “we have heard”), depending on the context. Oftentimes either tense is possible. (The present perfect is typically used in English to express a past event that has direct implications for the present time.) The Definite Direct Object Marker The Hebrew word את ֵ is used in Hebrew sentences to mark the definite direct object of the verb. • The “direct object” is the noun that is the immediate recipient of the action expressed by the verb. In the words of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it is the “word or phrase denoting the goal or the result of the action of a verb.” Unit 21 325 • Remember that a “definite” direct object may include nouns and construct chains marked by the definite article, nouns with a pronominal suffix, proper nouns (personal or place names), and pronouns. ֵ is written immediately before the definite direct object, The definite direct object marker את often connected to it by a maqaf (which leads to a vowel change: את־ ֶ ). We never translate ֵאת into English because there is no word that functions like this in the English language. It is important to note that while this marker is very common in biblical Hebrew (it appears almost 11,000 times in the text), it is not always used. In other words, do not be surprised to see a definite direct object in the text that is not preceded by את ֵ. Notes from the Text Inner Object: Biblical Hebrew often uses verbs with objects that share the same root, e.g. “ ֲחלוֹם ָח ַל ְמנוּwe dreamed a dream.” This phenomenon is called an “inner object” or “cognate object.” Groups & Nations: A very common method in biblical Hebrew to designate members of a particular group or nation is with the noun ֵבּן. For example, “ ְבּנֵי ַעמּוֹןchildren of Ammon” = “Ammonites,” and אל ֵ “ ְבּנֵי יִ ְשׂ ָרchildren of Israel” = “Israelites.” Unit 21 326 Homework 1. Using the Unit 21 vocabulary list, fill in the crossword puzzle below with the correct Hebrew words. Each square will hold one consonant or vowel letter (mater lectionis); disregard the vowel pointing. Across: 1. 4. שׂ כ ר 3. 2. Philistine 6. document 2. 5. 7. reproach Down: 6. 1. kingship 7. 3. Joseph 4. wages 5. he fought 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. אָס ְפ ִתּי ַ אָרץ ֲאנִ י ֶ ( ָכּל־ ָהIs. 10:14) I gathered all the earth ( ְגּבוּל ִמ ְצ ַריִ םGen. 47:21) אָרץ ֶ ָבּ ָרא ֱאל ִֹהים ֵאת ַה ָשּׁ ַמיִ ם וְ ֵאת ָה (Gen. 1:1) ( ֲחלוֹם ָח ַל ְמ ִתּיGen. 41:15) ( ֶה ָע ִרים ֲא ֶשׁר ָל ַכ ְדנוּDt. 2:35) ָתן ָל ָבן ְל ָר ֵחל ַ ( ֲא ֶשׁר־נGen. 46:25) לֹא ָל ַקח יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל ֶאת־ ֶא ֶרץ מוֹאָב ( וְ ֶאת־ ֶא ֶרץ ְבּנֵי ַעמּוֹןJdg. 11:15) Unit 21 327 3. Read each of the following sentences and add the definite direct object marker ֵאתto the Hebrew whenever it would be expected to appear. (If it should not appear, leave the space in the sentence blank.) ָק ָראנוּ ֵאת ִס ְפרוֹ ַה ֶלּ ֶחם אָכל ַ הוּא קוֹל ְשׁ ַמ ְע ֶתּם ַפּ ְרעֹה ָע ְבדוּ ָדּג אָכל ַ הוּא ֵס ֶפר ָק ָראנוּ ֶמ ֶל ְך טוֹב ְדּ ַבר־יְ הוָה ָע ְבדוּ ְשׁ ַמ ְע ֶתּם (we read his letter) (he ate the bread) (you (m.p.) heard a voice) (they served Pharaoh) (he ate a fish) (we read a letter) (they served a good king) (you (m.p.) heard the word of the LORD) 4. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. (Note: The definite direct object marker ֵאתappears below wherever possible in the syntax of each sentence. Remember that the verb and object may appear in any order in Hebrew.) ָל ַכד ַמ ְל ֵכּנוּ our king captured ָל ַכד ֶאת־ ַמ ְל ֵכּנוּ יוֹסף ָמ ָצא ֵ יוֹסף ָמ ָצא ֵ ֶאת־ ָתנָה ְ אָמה נ ָ ָה ָתנָה ְ אָמה נ ָ ֶאת־ ָה ָשׁ ְלחוּ ַע ְב ֵדי־ ַה ֶמּ ֶל ְך ָשׁ ְלחוּ ֶאת־ ַע ְב ֵדי־ ַה ֶמּ ֶל ְך Unit 21 328 Recommended Bibliography (on the subject of ) ֵאת 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§117a-m = pp. 362-66) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§125e-j = pp. 444-47) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§27 = p. 19) Unit 21 329 Unit 22 Translating Qatal, Con't Unit Description: In this unit we will continue with the questions concerning the meaning and the translation of the Qatal form. We will discover how this form performs in different sentences and how Hebrew is different from English in this point. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 330 Unit 22 331 Vocabulary Category Hebrew English ָבּ ָקר bāqār bakar cattle, herd, ox (m.s.) ֶבח ַז zébah zévah sacrifice (m.s.) יַיִ ן yáyin yáyin wine (m.s.) ַח ָלה ֲנ nahălāh nahala possession, property, inheritance (f.s.) ֵע ֶבר ‘ḗber ’éver region beyond or across; side (m.s.) ֶשׁ ֶמשׁ šémeš shémesh sun (f.s.) ֶשׁ ַבע šéba‘ shéva seven (f.) ִשׁ ְב ִעים šib‘îm shivim seventy ֶנגֶד néged néged in front of, in sight of, opposite to Nouns Numbers Transliteration Pronunciation Preposition Adverb Verbs m. = masculine ֵכּן kēn ken so, thus (usually points to what precedes) גָּאַל gā’al ga’al he redeemed, he acted as kinsman ָבח ַז zābah zavah he slaughtered for sacrifice ָח ָטא hātā’ hata he missed (a goal or way), he went wrong, he sinned ָכּ ַתב kātab katav he wrote ָשׁ ָתה šātāh shata he drank f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 22 332 Slides from the Unit Unit 22 333 Unit 22 334 Unit 22 335 Unit 22 336 Unit 22 337 Unit 22 338 Unit 22 339 Unit 22 340 Grammatical Remarks In this unit we continue our study of the Qatal verb (the “suffix conjugation”) by examining the common ways in which this verb might be translated in various contexts. Translating Qatal As discussed in the previous unit, the biblical Hebrew verbal system is different in many ways from the English verbal system. Because of this, we shouldn’t expect that a given form (Qatal, for example) will have an exact parallel tense in English. The fact that Hebrew has fewer verb forms than English often creates a situation in which one Hebrew form covers the uses of two or more English forms. In contrast to the “absolute” tense system of English, Hebrew uses a “relative” verbal system in which each verb form takes its meaning from its relationship to other verbs in its context. The Qatal verb expresses what we call an “anterior” relationship, i.e. it speaks of an action that occurs before something else in its context. We must look at the context to see which verb or event the Qatal verb is anterior to (i.e. which verb or event it occurs before), and understand the meaning of the verb accordingly. These are the common English translations of the Qatal verb: 1. Past Tense (“he heard”) / Present Perfect (“he has heard”) – We saw in the previous unit that Qatal is the regular past (or present perfect) tense in direct speech, since it naturally expresses an action that happened before the time of speaking. There are cases also in narrative prose where the context would lead us to translate a Qatal verb with the simple past tense. But since there is a separate verb form (see Unit 28) that functions as the regular past tense in narrative prose, the simple past tense is a less common use of Qatal here. 2. Past Perfect (“he had heard”) – Because the Qatal verb expresses an “anterior” relationship in narrative, it is very often found in circumstantial and/or subordinate clauses that give background information to the main story line. This background information usually concerns actions that occurred before the main past tense of the narrative, in which case the Qatal verb should be translated with the English past perfect (the English tense for a past action that occurred before another past tense action). 3. Future Perfect (“he will have heard”) – The Qatal verb can even be found in contexts where the action will occur in the future, but before another future action. We express this relationship in English with the future perfect tense. Unit 22 341 Homework 1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the appropriate word under each picture below. ָבּ ָקר a) ָז ַבח ָשׁ ָתה יַיִ ן ָכּ ַתב ֶשׁ ַבע ֶשׁ ֶמשׁ c) b) d) f) ִשׁ ְב ִעים e) g) h) Unit 22 342 ָשׁ ָתה 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. ( ַח ָטּאתוֹ ֲא ֶשׁר ָח ָטאLev. 4:28) his sin which he sinned ( ֵכּן ָע ָשׂהEx. 36:11) ( ֶנגֶד ָכּל־יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאלDeut. 31:11) ֶבח ַ עוֹלה וְ לֹא ְלז ָ ( לֹא ְלJosh. 22:28) ( גָּאַל יְ הוָה ַע ְבדּוֹ ַי ֲעקֹבIsa. 48:20) הוּדה ָ ְַח ַלת ַמ ֵטּה ְבנֵי־י ֲ ( זֹאת נJosh. 15:20) ֵא ֶלּה ַה ְדּ ָב ִרים ֲא ֶשׁר ִדּ ֶבּר מ ֶֹשׁה ַר ֵדּן ְ ( ֶאל־ ָכּל־יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל ְבּ ֵע ֶבר ַהיּDeut. 1:1) 3. Give the four possible translations that each of the following phrases may have in different contexts: ָתן ִלי ַ ֲא ֶשׁר נ ֲא ֶשׁר ָל ַק ְח ָתּ ִכּי לֹא ָשׁ ְמרוּ ִכּי ָמ ְצאָה 1. that he had given to me 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. that you took 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. for they have not kept 4. 1. 2. 3. 4. for she will have found Unit 22 343 4. Write the number of the correct translation after each phrase. ( ֵאין בּוֹ ַמיִ םGen. 37:24) 4 ָפלוּ ַבּ ֶח ֶרב ְ ( ִכּי נ2 Sam. 1:12) ( וְ ִאם־יֶשׁ־ ִבּי ָעוֹן1 Sam. 20:8) ( יֵשׁ ַבּ ָבּ ִתּים ָה ֵא ֶלּהJdg. 18:14) תוֹך ַהגָּן ְ ( ָה ֵעץ ֲא ֶשׁר ְבּGen. 3:3) אָרץ ֶ ( ָכּל־ ָבּ ָשׂר ֲא ֶשׁר ַעל־ ָהGen. 9:17) ֶיך ָ ָצא ָה ֱאל ִֹהים ְל ָפנ ָ ( ִכּי־י1 Chr. 14:15) אָמר ִכּי־ ָשׁ ַמ ְע ָתּ ְלקוֹל ִא ְשׁ ֶתּ ָך ַ (Gen. 3:17) 1. for God will have gone out before you 2. there are in these houses 3. the tree that is in the middle of the garden 4. there was no water in it 5. he said, “Because you listened to the voice of your wife…” 6. but if there is sin in me 7. because they had fallen by the sword 8. all flesh that is on the earth Unit 22 344 Unit 23 Review: Ruth, Con't Unit Description: Why did Naomi want to change her name to Mara? What happened to Ruth and Naomi when they returned from Moab? These will be part of the questions that we will answer in this review unit. The discussion will enable us to review the previous units. (Ruth 1-2) New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 345 Unit 23 345 Vocabulary Category Nouns Proper Noun Adjectives Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation ַחיִ ל háyil háyil power, strength, wealth, army (m.s.) ֵחן hēn hen favor, grace (m.s.) עֹז ‘ōz ’oz strength, might (m.s.) ֶפּ ַתח pétah pétah opening, doorway, entrance (m.s.) ָק ִציר qāsîr katsir harvest (m.s.) ֵשׁ ֶבט šḗbet shévet rod, staff, club, scepter; tribe (m.s.) ְתּ ִח ָלּה təhillāh təhila beginning (f.s.) בּ ַֹעז bṓ‘az bó’az Boaz ָמ ֵלא mālē’ male full ָקרוֹב qārôb qarov near ָרחוֹק rāhôq rahok distant, far ָמ ַל ְך mālak malakh he was/became king, he reigned ָק ַצר qāsar katsar he reaped, he harvested ָק ַרב qārab karav he came near, he approached ָר ַחק rāhaq rahak he was/became far, distant Verbs m. = masculine English f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 23 346 Slides from the Unit Unit 23 347 Unit 23 348 Unit 23 349 Unit 23 350 Unit 23 351 Unit 23 352 Grammatical Remarks The primary goal of this unit is to review previous material, but we do encounter a couple of new grammatical points as we continue our reading in the book of Ruth. Narrative Verb “Vayehi” Ruth 1:19-22 describe Naomi and Ruth’s arrival in Bethlehem. This section opens with ַויְ ִהי “and it came about,” “now it happened,” etc. This is a verb form that we haven’t taught yet, but you may compare this opening to the opening of the first chapter: ימי ְשׁפֹט ַהשּׁ ְֹפ ִטים ֵ ו ְַי ִהי ִבּ “Now it came about in the days when the judges governed….” This specific verb is often (though not always) used in the biblical text to mark the border between textual units. This seems to be its use in Ruth 1:19, since the return to Bethlehem opens a new literary unit. Demonstrative Pronouns When the demonstrative pronouns ֶזה, זֹאת, א ֶלּה ֵ “this/these,” or הוּא, ִהיא, ֵהם, ֵה ָנּה “that/those,” are describing a noun, they behave just like an adjective. In other words, they follow the noun they describe and match that noun in both number and gender. In addition, both the noun and the demonstrative pronoun take the definite article, since “this” or “that” is a definite concept. We omit the definite article in our English translation, since English convention does not allow us to translate “the this ___”; but be aware that the Hebrew construction does include the definite article. For example, תח ַהזֶּה ַ “ = ַה ֶפּthis doorway,” and = ַה ְסּ ָפ ִרים ַה ֵהם “those letters.” Unit 23 353 Homework 1. Using the Unit 23 vocabulary list, fill in the crossword puzzle below with the correct Hebrew words. Each square will hold one consonant or vowel letter (mater lectionis); disregard the vowel pointing. 1. ב 5. 4. ו Across: 1. near 2. you (m.s.) became distant 6. power ק ר 3. 2. Down: 1. he harvested 3. favor 4. beginning 5. full 6. 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. תוֹך־ ָה ִעיר ְ ( ִמ ְג ַדּל־עֹז ָהיָה ְבּJdg. 9:51) ( ָק ַרב ֶאל־ ַה ַמּ ֲחנֶהExo. 32:19) ( ַעד־ ֶפּ ַתח ַה ַשּׁ ַער2 Sam. 11:23) ( וְ ֵא ֶלּה ַה ְמּ ָל ִכים ֲא ֶשׁר ָמ ְלכוּGen. 36:31) חוֹקה ְמאֹד ָ ( ֶא ֶרץ ְרJosh. 9:9) בּ ַֹעז... ( ֵשׁם ָה ִאישׁRuth 2:19) ִאישׁ אוֹ־ ִא ָשּׁה אוֹ ִמ ְשׁ ָפּ ָחה אוֹ־ ֵשׁ ֶבט (Deut. 29:17) אַר ְצ ֶכם ְ ( ְק ִצירLev. 19:9) Unit 23 354 a strong tower (lit. “tower of strength”) was within the city 3. Circle the correct absolute form of each construct form given on the left. ֲרי ֵ ַשׁע תּוֹרת ַ ֲענַן אַ ְרצוֹת ְל ַבב ֶע ְד ֵרי ְבּנוֹת ִמנְ חֹת ַשׁ ַער תּוֹרוֹת ָענָן ֲא ָרצוֹת ְל ָבבוֹת ֲד ִרים ָע ַבּת ִמנְ חֹת ְשׁ ָע ִרים תּוֹרה ָ ֲענָנִ ים ֶא ֶרץ ֵל ָבב ֵע ֶדר ָבּנוֹת ִמנְ ָחה 4. Match each pronoun on the right to the appropriate verb, then match these to a prepositional phrase that continues the sentence (there may be more than one logical possibility). Write the full Hebrew phrases below and translate. חוֹמה ָ ַעל ַה ַבּ ֶדּ ֶר ְך ַהיְ ָשׁ ָרה ֶאל ָה ָעם ַבּ ָשּׂדוֹת ִמ ְפּנֵי ַה ָצּ ָבא יכל ָ ְליַד ַה ֵה ִמן ָה ִעיר אָמ ְר ָתּ ַ ְבּ ַר ְח ֶתּם ָה ַל ְכ ִתּי ָע ַבר ָצאוּ ְי ָק ְצ ָרה ֲמ ְד ֶתּן ַע Unit 23 355 אָנ ִֹכי ֵה ָמּה אַתּם ֶ אַתּה ָ הוּא אַתּנָה ֵ ִהוא אָנ ִֹכי ָה ַל ְכ ִתּי ַבּ ֶדּ ֶר ְך ַהיְ ָשׁ ָרה I walked on the straight path. Unit 23 356 Unit 24 Yiqtol Verbs Unit Description: The second verbal form that we will learn is the prefix conjugation called "Yiqtol". In this unit we will learn how to recognize this form and how Hebrew marks the different persons in it. We will discover that also in this form there is a clear connection between the different persons and the independent pronouns. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 360 Unit 24 357 Vocabulary Category Nouns Numbers Adverbs Verbs Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English אוֹצר ָ ’ôsār ’otsar treasure, treasury, storehouse (m.s.) ִכּ ֵסּא kissē’ kise throne (m.s.) *לוּח ַ lû́ah lúah tablet, plank (m.s.) *ִמ ְז ֵבּ ַח mizbḗah mizbéah altar (m.s.) **עוֹלם ָ ‘ôlām ’olam long duration of time (past or future) (m.s.) ָצפוֹן sā pôn tsafon north (f.s.) *רוּח ַ rû́ah rúah breath, wind, spirit (f.s.) ְשׁמֹנֶה šəmṓneh shmóne eight (f.) ְשׁמֹנִ ים šəmōnîm shmonim eighty אוּלי ַ ’ûlay ’ulay perhaps, maybe ָמ ָחר māhār mahar tomorrow, in time to come ָכר ַז zākar zakhar he remembered ָס ַפר sāpar safar he counted ָשׁ ַכח šākah shakhah he forgot ָשׁ ַפ ְך šāpak shafakh he poured (out) m. = masculine f. = feminine s. = singular * The patah at the end of these words is called a “furtive patah,” and it is the only case in which the vowel that appears below a consonant is pronounced before that consonant: lûah, not lûha. This vowel only appears with the gutturals ה, ח, and ע. ** With preposition: ַעד־עוֹ ָלם/ “ = ְלעוֹ ָלםforever”; “ = ֵמעוֹ ָלםfrom ancient times.” Unit 24 358 Slides from the Unit Unit 24 359 Unit 24 360 Unit 24 361 Unit 24 362 Unit 24 363 Unit 24 364 Unit 24 365 Unit 24 366 Unit 24 367 Grammatical Remarks In this unit we return to our discussion of Hebrew verbs. Like nouns, Hebrew verbs are composed of a root and a pattern (in Course A we’re learning only the basic pattern, called “Qal” – we’ll learn the other patterns in Course B). In contrast to English, the Hebrew verb declines according to person, gender, and number, so each conjugation has a different form for almost every subject. Many different terms have been used by Biblical Hebrew scholars to describe the various verb forms. We name each verb conjugation after the 3ms (third person masculine singular) form, using the example root ל-ט-ק. We choose to name the verbs in this way (rather than using terms like “future tense”) because this method doesn’t bring into the morphological discussion any assumptions about the meaning of the form. In this unit we learn about the “Yiqtol” verb, whose 3ms form is יִ ְקטֹל. The Yiqtol Verb This verb form is also known as the “prefix conjugation” because the subject pronoun of the verb is attached to the basic form as a prefix. For the purposes of this unit, we’ll translate the Yiqtol form as a simple future tense. But the meaning of the Yiqtol verb is more complex than this, so we’ll discuss the use of this form in further detail over the next two units. As with the Qatal suffixes, many Yiqtol prefixes are similar to the corresponding independent pronouns. This connection is clear in the first and second person forms, though it is not as evident in the third person. The full paradigm of the forms is in your workbook, but here are a few extra notes: • There are two common Yiqtol patterns seen in different roots: 1. יִ ְפקֹדand 2. יִ ְק ַרב. The only difference between the forms is that wherever the long [ō] holem appears in the first pattern, the short [a] patah is used in the second. There is no difference in meaning. • There are only four Yiqtol prefixes: איתנ. Some forms are further distinguished by a suffix. • The 2ms and 3fs forms are identical, so they can be distinguished from one another only by the context. The same is true of the 2fp and 3fp forms. • The 2fp/3fp form is the only Yiqtol form with a penultimate (second-to-last) accent. • Unlike the Qatal form, the Yiqtol form does distinguish between third person plural masculine and feminine. Yiqtol uses the suffix וּ- only for masculine plural (2nd and 3rd). Note: Because the verbal affixes are so specific about the subject of each verb, a separate subject pronoun (e.g. “ הוּא יִ ְסגֹּרhe will close”) isn’t necessary in Hebrew. But if no separate subject is written, English (whose verb forms are not so specific) requires us to translate the subject pronoun. Unit 24 368 The Furtive Patah The guttural letters ה, ח, and ע, which are pronounced at the back of the throat, are very difficult to pronounce at the end of the word when they are directly preceded by the E, I, O, or U vowels, which are pronounced in the front of the mouth. Hebrew solves this problem by inserting a short [a] vowel (patah) between the E/I/O/U vowel and the guttural. Because the patah is pronounced in the middle of the mouth, it helps to transition from the front of the mouth to the back of the throat. (This phenomenon is known in linguistics as a “glide.”) Since there is no way to write two consecutive vowels in Hebrew, the patah, called the “furtive patah,” is written under the guttural letter, though it is pronounced before it. This is the only case in which the vowel that appears below a consonant is actually pronounced before that consonant. For ַ as [lû́ah], not [lûha]. Note that the furtive patah is not example, we pronounce the word לוּח accented; the original accent of the word is retained. Unit 24 369 Homework 1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the appropriate word under each picture below. לוּח ַ a) ִמ ְז ֵבּ ַח ָצפוֹן ָצפוֹן רוּח ַ ָשׁ ַכח ְשׁמֹנִ ים c) b) d) f) ְשׁמֹנֶה e) g) h) Unit 24 370 ָשׁ ַפ ְך 2. Write the number of the correct translation after each phrase. ַאנִ י וְ ָכל־ ָה ָעם ֲא ֶשׁר ִא ִתּי נִ ְק ַרב ֶאל־ ָה ִעיר ֲו ( ָמ ָחר ֶא ְשׁ ַלח1 Sam. 9:16) אוּלי יִ ְשׁ ְמעוּ ַ (Jer. 26:3) ירוּשׁ ַלִם ִכּ ֵסּא יְ הוָה ָ ָבּ ֵעת ַה ִהיא יִ ְק ְראוּ ִל ( ִתּ ְס ְפּרוּ ֲח ִמ ִשּׁים יוֹםLev. 23:16) עוֹלם ְבּ ִריתוֹ ָ ( יִ ְזכֹּר ְלPsa. 111:5) (Josh. 8:5) (Jer. 3:17) אוֹצרוֹ ַהטּוֹב ֶאת־ ַה ָשּׁ ַמיִ ם ָ יִ ְפ ַתּח יְ הוָה ְל ָך ֶאת־ (Deut. 28:12) 1. Tomorrow I will send. 2. Perhaps they will listen. 3. You shall count fifty days. 4. He will remember his covenant forever. 5. At that time, they will call Jerusalem the Throne of the LORD. 6. The LORD will open for you his good storehouse, the heavens. 7. And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. Unit 24 371 7 3. Write the Yiqtol verbs below in the appropriate places in the chart. ִתּ ְסגּ ְֹרנָה נִ ְכתֹּב ִתּ ְפ ְקדוּ ִתּ ְמ ְצ ִאי יִ ְלכֹּד יִ ְק ְרבוּ ֶא ְשׁכֹּן ִתּ ְשׁמֹר Singular Plural First Person Common Second Person Masculine ִתּ ְסגּ ְֹרנָה Second Person Feminine Third Person Masculine ִתּ ְסגּ ְֹרנָה Third Person Feminine 4. Write the appropriate form of the Yiqtol verb יִ ְמלֹ ְךfor each subject in the sentences below, then translate. ( ֶבּן־ ַה ֶמּ ֶל ְך יִ ְמלֹ ְך2 Chr. 23:3) “The king’s son will reign.” אַתּנָה ִתּ ְמל ְֹכנָה ֵ You (f.p.) will reign. ַה ְמּ ָלכוֹת . . . . אַתּ ְ אַתּה ָ אָנ ִֹכי ְבּנֵי־ ָדוִ ד . ַחנוּ ְ ֲאנ . ַבּת־ ַה ֶמּ ֶל ְך . . אַתּם ֶ Unit 24 372 Recommended Bibliography (on the Yiqtol form) 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§47 = pp. 125-29) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§44 = pp. 135-38) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§90 = pp. 99-100; §94 = p. 103) (on the furtive patah) 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§22f = pp. 77-78) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§21c = pp. 87) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§6 = p. xxi) Unit 24 373 Unit 25 Translating Yiqtol Unit Description: What is the meaning of the Yiqtol form, and how do we translate it into English? These will be the questions that we will ask in this unit. We will illustrate these topics using a variety of verses from the Bible. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 375 Unit 25 375 Vocabulary Category Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation ֱא ֶמת ’ĕmet ’emet firmness, truth, faithfulness (f.s.) ָמל ָגּ gāmāl gamal camel (m.s.) גֵּר gēr ger sojourner, temporary resident, new-comer (m.s.) כּ ַֹח kṓah kóah strength, power (m.s.) ֵע ָדה ‘ēdāh ’eda congregation, company (f.s.) ֵר ַע rḗa‘ réa friend, companion, fellow (m.s.) ֶא ְפ ַריִ ם ’epráyim ’efráyim Ephraim ַשּׁה ֶ ְמנ mənaššeh mənashe Manasseh ְסדֹם sədōm sədom Sodom *ֲה hă- ha- whether, if ָגּנַב gānab ganav he stole ָק ַבר qābar qavar he buried ָר ַצח rāsah ratsah he murdered ָשׁאַל šā’al sha’al he asked (for), he inquired (of) ָשׁ ַבר šābar shavar he broke Nouns Proper Nouns Interrogative Verbs English m. = masculine f. = feminine s. = singular * ַהbefore a shewa or before a guttural; ֶהbefore a guttural followed by a qamas Unit 25 376 Slides from the Unit Unit 25 377 Unit 25 378 Unit 25 379 Unit 25 380 Unit 25 381 Unit 25 382 Unit 25 383 Unit 25 384 Grammatical Remarks In this unit we continue our study of the Yiqtol verb (the “prefix conjugation”) by examining the common ways in which this verb might be translated in various contexts. The Hebrew Verbal System As we discussed in unit 21, the biblical Hebrew verbal system is different in many aspects from the English verbal system. Because of this, we shouldn’t expect that a given form (Yiqtol, for example) will have an exact parallel tense in English. One of the notable characteristics of the Hebrew verbal system, in contrast to English, is the relatively small number of verbal forms. The fact that Hebrew has fewer forms than English often creates a situation in which one Hebrew form covers the uses of two or more English forms. Remember also that biblical Hebrew uses a “relative” tense system rather than an “absolute” tense system. English has an “absolute” verbal system, meaning that each verb form has an absolute temporal meaning that relates to the time of speaking: actions that occur before the speech time are in the past tense, those that occur at the time of speaking are in the present tense, and those that will occur after the speech time are in the future tense. Because Hebrew is a “relative” system, each verb form derives its meaning from its contextual relationship to other verbs around it. The Yiqtol form, for example, does not have an “absolute” meaning that is distinct from its context; rather, it takes its meaning from its chronological position “relative to” its context. Translating Yiqtol 1. Future Tense (“he will hear”) – Yiqtol is commonly used in direct speech to express an action that will occur after the time of speaking. In other words, the Yiqtol verb is used for an action that is in the future relative to the present time of the speaker. Therefore, we may usually translate the Yiqtol verb in direct speech with the simple future tense. Keep in mind that this might also take the form of a question (“Will he hear?”). 2. Conditional Sentences (“if he hears”) – The Yiqtol verb is also used in conditional sentences, which are usually translated in English with a present verb form. 3. Language of the Law (“he shall hear”) – The Yiqtol form is also used as the language of the law, expressing a general command. This is typically translated in English with “shall.” Unit 25 385 Interrogative Heh In addition to using independent interrogative pronouns (מה ָ “what,” “ ִמיwho,” etc.), Hebrew can also mark any sentence as a question by attaching the interrogative הto the beginning of the question. This “interrogative ”הmay appear before any part of speech (verb, noun, adjective, etc.), depending on the structure of the sentence – it will attach to whichever word comes first. Its literal translation may be understood as, “Is it that…?” (i.e. “Is it true that…?”), but it can typically be interpreted in English simply by changing the structure of the sentence to a question (e.g. “Did you…?” “Will you…?”) and adding the question mark at the end. Regular Form Before a shewa Before א, ה, ח, ע, ר Before א, ה, ח, ע, רpointed with a qamats ֲה ַה ַה ֶה “ ֲה ִת ְזכֹּרWill you remember?” “ ַה ְכ ַת ְב ֶתּםDid you write?” “ ַה ֶע ֶבד הוּאIs he a servant?” “ ֶה ָח ָכם הוּאIs he wise?” • The interrogative הis usually pointed with the reduced [ă] vowel, the hataf patah. • Since Hebrew cannot begin a word with two shewas (or with a reduced vowel and a shewa), when the interrogative הappears before a letter with a shewa, it is pointed with the short [a] patah instead of by the usual reduced [ă]. (Though this form of the interrogative looks very much like the definite article ה, remember that the definite article is usually accompanied by a dagesh in the first letter of the attached word, which is not the case with the interrogative ה.) • The interrogative הis also pointed with the short [a] patah when it appears before a word beginning with a guttural letter. • The interrogative הis pointed with short [e] seghol when it appears before a guttural that is followed by a long [ā] qamats. • The changes made to the form of the interrogative הbefore a shewa or a guttural may lead to situations in which the interrogative הtakes the same form as the definite article. In such cases, the reader must decide the meaning by the context. Unit 25 386 Homework 1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the appropriate word under each picture below. ָשׁאַל ְסדֹם a) ֵר ַע ֵע ָדה גֵּר גֵּר b) d) c) כּ ַֹח e) g) f) Unit 25 387 ָמל ָגּ 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. And you (m.p.) shall not break a bone in it. ( וְ ֶע ֶצם לֹא ִת ְשׁ ְבּרוּ־בוֹExo. 12:46) ( ֵאין־ ֱא ֶמת וְ ֵאין־ ֶח ֶסדHos. 4:1) אָמר יְ הוָה ֲה ָר ַצ ְח ָתּ ַ ( כֹּה1 Kgs. 21:19) ( ַמ ֲחנֵה ֶא ְפ ַריִ םNum. 2:24) ַשּׁה ֶ ( ַעל־רֹאשׁ ְמנGen. 48:14) ֶא ְשׁבֹּר ֶאת־ ָה ָעם ַהזֶּה וְ ֶאת־ ָה ִעיר ( ַהזֹּאתJer 19:11) אַב ָר ָהם ֶאת־ ָשׂ ָרה ִא ְשׁתּוֹ ְ ָק ַבר (Gen. 23:19) ( ֲהלוֹא יִ ְגנְ בוּOba. 1:5) 3. Sort the following words into the appropriate columns, according to whether the initial הis the interrogative ה, the definite article “the,” or could be either and must be determined by the context. (See units 10-11 for the forms of the definite article.) ַה ֶא ְפקֹד ַההוּא Interrogative ה ָה ֶא ֶבן ֲה ִת ְמ ְצאוּ ַהיָּם ַה ֵאשׁ Definite Article ַה ֶא ְפקֹד Unit 25 388 ֲהיָם ֶה ָע ָפר Either (must decide by context) 4. Translate the following questions from Hebrew into English. ?Has he said אָמר )ַ (Num. 23:19ההוּא ַ קוֹל ָך זֶה )ֲ (1 Sam. 26:17ה ְ אַתּה ָה ִאישׁ )ַ (Jdg. 13:11ה ָ אָרץ ֲהלוֹא־זֶה ָדוִ ד ֶמ ֶל ְך ָה ֶ )(1 Sam. 21:12 )ֲ (Jdg. 4:20היֵשׁ־פֹּה ִאישׁ ֳמי )ֲ (Ruth 1:19הזֹאת ָנע ִ )ֲ (Eze. 22:2ה ִת ְשׁפֹּט ֶאת־ ָה ִעיר ֲב ִדים אַתּם ע ָ ֲהלוֹא אָנ ִֹכי ַה ְפּ ִל ְשׁ ִתּי וְ ֶ )ְ (1 Sam. 17:8ל ָשׁאוּל Unit 25 389 Recommended Bibliography (on the interrogative )ה 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§100 k-n = p. 296) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§102 l-o = pp. 334-35) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§54 = p. 48) Unit 25 390 Unit 26 Translating Yiqtol, Con't Unit Description: In this unit we will continue with the questions concerning the meaning and the translation of the Yiqtol form. We will discover how this form performs in different sentences and how Hebrew is different from English in this point. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 390 Unit 26 391 Vocabulary Category Nouns Proper Nouns Numbers Verbs m. = masculine Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English אָחוֹת ָבּ ָמה ’āhôt ’ahot sister (f.s.) bāmāh bama high place (f.s.) ַבּ ַעל bá‘al bá’al רוֹע ַ ְז zərốa‘ zəróa ַשׁ ָבּת אַחאָב ְ ֵא ִליָּהוּ ישׁע ָ ֱא ִל ַבּ ַעל ֶע ְשׂ ִרים ְשׁל ִֹשׁים ָבּ ַחר šabbāt shabat sabbath (b.s.) ’ah’āb ’ahav Ahab ’ēliyyā́hû ’eliyáhu Elijah ’ĕlîšā‘ ’elisha Elisha bá‘al bá’al Baal ‘eśrîm ’esrim twenty šəlōšîm shəloshim thirty bāhar bahar he chose ָח ָלה hālāh halah ָכּ ַרת ָשׂ ַרף kārat karat he cut (off/down)* śārap saraf he burned f. = feminine b. = both m. and f. owner, lord, husband (m.s.) arm, shoulder, strength (f.s.) he was weak, he was sick s. = singular * The expression “ ָכּ ַרת ְבּ ִריתhe cut a covenant” means “he made a covenant.” Unit 26 392 Slides from the Unit Unit 26 393 Unit 26 394 Unit 26 395 Unit 26 396 Unit 26 397 Unit 26 398 Unit 26 399 Grammatical Remarks In this unit we continue our study of the Yiqtol verb (the “prefix conjugation”) by examining the common ways in which this verb might be translated in various contexts. Translating Yiqtol As discussed previously, the Yiqtol form (like other Hebrew verbs) does not have an exact parallel tense in English. In part because Hebrew has fewer verb forms than English, the single Hebrew verb form Yiqtol covers the uses of several different English forms. Remember also that Hebrew uses a “relative” verbal system in which each verb form takes its meaning from its relationship to other verbs in its context. The uses of the Yiqtol verb in biblical Hebrew come under two main categories: 1. Posterior Action – The Yiqtol verb expresses what we call a “posterior” relationship, i.e. it speaks of an action that occurs after (or in the future relative to) something else in its context. We must look at the context to see which verb or event the Yiqtol verb is posterior to (i.e. which verb or event it occurs after), and understand the meaning of the verb accordingly. As discussed in Unit 25, this often means that we can translate a Yiqtol verb, especially in direct speech, with the simple future tense or as a conditional. However, when the Yiqtol form appears in the context of a past tense narrative, the translation is more difficult. Different contexts may require this verb to be translated “could do,” “would do,” “was to do,” “should do,” “might do,” etc. The point is that the Yiqtol action happens after something else. 2. Habitual / Repeated Action –Yiqtol is also used for any habitual or repeated action. This includes the language of the law (Unit 25), commands meant to be continually followed. • General Truth, Habitual Present – Habitual present is used for an action that is repeated over a period of time, beginning in the past and extending into the future, e.g. “He reads the newspaper every morning.” Likewise, a general truth is true not only in the present, but also at any point in the past or in the future. It is often seen in proverbial phrases such as, “A bribe blinds those who see” (Exodus 23:8). In both cases, the Yiqtol verb may be translated in English with the simple present. • Past Iterative – The Yiqtol form may also be used in the context of a past tense narrative for repeated or continued action in the past (English: “he used to do” or “he would do”). This is very similar to the habitual present; the only difference between them is that with the past iterative, the action occurs and is repeated only in the past. Unit 26 400 Homework 1. Using the Unit 26 vocabulary list, fill in the crossword puzzle below with the correct Hebrew words. Each square will hold one consonant or vowel letter (mater lectionis); disregard the vowel pointing. 1. 3. 2. י שׁ ע א ל 4. 6. 5. 7. Across: 2. Elisha 5. owner 6. arm 7. sabbath Down: 1. Ahab 2. sister 3. twenty 4. thirty 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. אַחר ַה ְדּ ָב ִרים ָה ֵא ֶלּה ָח ָלה ֶבּן־ ָה ִא ָשּׁה ַ after these things, the son of the woman became sick (1 Kgs. 17:17) יאי ַה ַבּ ַעל ֵ ( ָכל־נְ ִב2 Kgs. 10:19) ( ַבּ ָמּקוֹם ֲא ֶשׁר־יִ ְב ַחר יְ הוָהDeut. 16:2) ( ֲאנִ י ֶא ְכרֹת ִא ְתּ ָך ְבּ ִרית2 Sam. 3:13) ( ָכּל־ ֲא ֶשׁר ָע ָשׂה ֵא ִליָּהוּ1 Kgs. 19:1) דוֹלה ָ ( ִכּי ִהיא ַה ָבּ ָמה ַה ְגּ1 Kgs. 3:4) וְ ָה ִעיר ָשׂ ְרפוּ ָב ֵאשׁ וְ ָכל־ ֲא ֶשׁר ָבּהּ (Josh. 6:24) Unit 26 401 3. Write the appropriate form of the Yiqtol verb יִ ְשׁ ַלחfor each subject in the sentences below, then translate. ( ֶאת־ ִמי ֶא ְשׁ ַלחIsa. 6:8) “Whom shall I send?” ֶאת־ ִמי יְ הוָה יִ ְשׁ ַלח Whom shall the LORD send? אַתּה ָ ֶאת־ ִמי . ֶאת־ ִמי ַה ְמּ ָל ִכים . ַחנוּ ְ ֶאת־ ִמי ֲאנ . . אַתּ ְ ֶאת־ ִמי ֶאת־ ִמי ַה ְמּ ָלכוֹת . אַתּם ֶ ֶאת־ ִמי . . . ֳמי ִ ֶאת־ ִמי ָנע אַתּנָה ֵ ֶאת־ ִמי Unit 26 402 4. Write the number of the correct translation after each phrase, paying attention to how the Yiqtol form is translated in each context. ( ָל ָמּה זֶּה ִתּ ְשׁאַל ִל ְשׁ ִמיJdg. 13:18) ( וְ לֹא ִי ְשׁ ְמעוּ1 Sam. 2:25) אָדם ִתּ ְשׁ ְפּטוּ ָ ( ִכּי לֹא ְל2 Chr. 19:6) ָבּ ֵאשׁ... ית ָך ִנ ְשׂרֹף ְ ( ֵבּJdg. 12:1) ( ֶצ ֶדק ֶצ ֶדק ִתּ ְרדֹּףDeut. 16:20) 3 ( ִכּי־ ִמי ִי ְשׁפֹּט ֶא ְת־ ַע ְמּ ָך ַהזֶּה ַהגָּדוֹל2 Chr. 1:10) מוֹעד ֵ ( וְ לֹא־ ִי ְק ְרבוּ עוֹד ְבּנֵי יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל ֶאל־א ֶֹהלNum. 18:22) וּמ ְל ָח ָמה ֶא ְשׁבּוֹר ִ ( וְ ֶק ֶשׁת וְ ֶח ֶרבHos. 2:20) 1. But they would not listen. 2. For you do not judge for man. 3. Why do you ask for my name? 4. Justice, justice you shall pursue. 5. We will burn your house with fire. 6. And bow and sword and war I will break. 7. For who can govern this great people of yours? 8. The Israelites shall not come near the tent of meeting again. Unit 26 403 Unit 27 Review: Ruth, Con't Unit Description: What is the semantic connection between the “resting place” and Naomi’s plans for Ruth? (Ruth 3:1) How is the author of the book playing with the connotations of the verbs 'to know' and 'to lay down'? These will be some of the questions that we will answer in this review unit. The discussion will enable us to review the previous units. (Ruth 3) New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 405 Unit 27 405 Vocabulary Category Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English גּ ֶֹרן gṓren góren threshing-floor (m.s.) ֶשׁם ֶגּ géšem géshem rain, shower (m.s.) ֲח ִצי hăsî hatsi half (m.s.) ָכּנָף kānāp kanaf wing, extremity (of garment, earth) (f.s.) ְכּרוּב kərûb kəruv cherub (m.s.) ָק ֶצה qāseh qatse end, edge, extremity (m.s.) Proper אַהרֹן ֲ ’ahărōn ’aharon Aaron Nouns ֵלוִ י lēwî levi Levi, Levite ֵשׁשׁ šēš shesh six (f.) ִשׁ ִשּׁים šiššîm shishim sixty ְתּמוֹל təmôl təmol yesterday, recently, formerly ִבּ ֵקּשׁ biqqēš biqesh he sought ָפּ ַרשׂ pāraś paras he spread (out) ָר ַחץ rāhas rahats he washed (off/ away), he bathed ָשׂ ַמח śāmah samah he rejoiced, he was glad Nouns Numbers Adverb Verbs m. = masculine f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 27 406 Slides from the Unit Unit 27 407 Unit 27 408 Unit 27 409 Unit 27 410 Unit 27 411 Grammatical Remarks The primary goal of this unit is to review previous material, but we do encounter several new topics as we conclude our reading in the book of Ruth. Echoing Earlier Texts In the beginning of her speech (3:1), Naomi doesn’t explicitly say how she intends to make things better for her daughter-in-law; but the attentive reader may catch a hint in her choice of words. In נוֹח ַ “( ֲא ַב ֶקּשׁ ָל ְך ָמShouldn’t I seek for you a resting place?”) there is an echo of Ruth 1:9:ישׁהּ ָ נוּחה ִא ָשּׁה ֵבּית ִא ָ וּמ ֶצא ָן ְמ ְ (“May each of you find rest in the home of her husband”). By this connection, we see that the implicit meaning of נוֹח ַ “ ָמrest” in 3:1 is “a home and a husband.” This manner of using previous vocabulary to make a point is common in Biblical Hebrew narrative. Ellipsis Hebrew, like English, can sometimes omit words that should be understood by the context. We see an example in Ruth 3:2, where the word ֹרן ֶ “ גּthreshing floor” is used as an ellipsis for the barley that is on the threshing floor. This verse literally reads, “He is winnowing the threshing floor” – but of course he is winnowing the barley, not the floor itself. (Such an expression may be compared to an English sentence like, “The actors performed for a full house” – of course they performed for the people in the building, not for the building itself.) Vocabulary Notes • • “ ַה ָלּיְ ָלהthe night” is used in Hebrew for “tonight,” just as ַהיּוֹםis used for “today.” יטב ִלבּוֹ ַ ִ“ וַיּhis heart was well” (Ruth 3:7) is a Hebrew idiom that means, “He was happy.” • ( ָכּ ָנףRuth 3:9) apparently refers to the “edge” of one’s garment. In the ancient Near East, the edge of a person’s garment symbolized identity and the authority of and protection given by that person. This metaphor also appears in several other places in the biblical text. Unit 27 412 Homework 1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the appropriate word under each picture below. ִבּ ֵקּשׁ a) גּ ֶֹרן ִבּ ֵקּשׁ ֶשׁם ֶגּ ֲח ִצי ָכּנָף ֵשׁשׁ c) b) d) f) ָר ַחץ e) g) h) Unit 27 413 ִשׁ ִשּׁים 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. either yesterday or today (lit. “also yesterday, also today”) ( גַּם־ ְתּמוֹל גַּם־ ַהיּוֹם1 Sam. 20:27) רוּבים ִ ( ַתּ ַחת ַכּנְ ֵפי ַה ְכּ1 Kgs. 8:6) ( ָפּ ַרשׂ ָענָןPsa. 105:39) ( ֵלוִ י אָנ ִֹכיJdg. 17:9) ( ִבּ ְק ֵצה ַה ִמּ ְד ָבּרExo. 13:20) ( יִ ְשׂ ַמח ָה ָעםPro. 29:2) אַהרֹן ֲ ִצוָּה יְ הוָה ֶאת־מ ֶֹשׁה וְ ֶאת־ (Exo. 12:50) 3. Do the following verbs express action that occurred yesterday ( ) ְתּמוֹלor will ָ )? Sort the verbs into the appropriate columns. (Assume occur tomorrow (מ ָחר that they appear in the context of direct speech, in which the Qatal form expresses simple past and the Yiqtol form expresses simple future.) יִ ְשׁ ַמע ָק ְראוּ ְר ַח ְצ ֶתּן ִתּ ְכתֹּב יִ ְק ְראוּ ִתּ ְר ַח ְצנָה ְתּמוֹל ָשׁ ַמע ָכּ ַת ְב ָתּ ָמ ָחר יִ ְשׁ ַמע 4. Review the material in units 1-26, especially the verbs in units 20-26. Unit 27 414 Unit 28 Wayyiqtol Verbs Unit Description: The third verbal form that we will learn is the form Wayyiqtol. In the first part of this unit we will learn how to recognize this form. In the second part we will discover what the meaning of this form is and how to translate it into English. We will illustrate its usages using a variety of verses from the Bible. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 420 Unit 28 415 Vocabulary Category Hebrew ֵאל Transliteration ’ēl Pronunciation ’el English God, god (m.s.) אַל ָמנָה ְ ’almānāh ’almana widow (f.s.) אַמּה ָ ’ammāh ’ama cubit (length of the forearm) (f.s.) ָכּבוֹד kābôd kavod abundance, honor, glory (m.s.) ֲשׂה ֶ ַמע ma‘ăśeh ma’ase deed, work (m.s.) צוּר sûr tsur rock, cliff (m.s.) ָר ָעה rā‘āh ra’a evil, misery, distress, injury (f.s.) ֶא ְל ָעזָר ’el‘āzār ’elazar Eleazar ָמן ִ ִבּנְ י binyāmin binyamin Benjamin הוֹשׁ ַע ֻ ְי yəhôšúa‘ yehoshúa Joshua יוֹאָב yô’āb yoav Joab ָבּ ַטח bātah batah he trusted ָדל ַגּ gādal gadal he grew (up), he became great Nouns Proper Nouns ָדּ ַרשׁ dāraš darash he sought, he inquired of (often used of seeking counsel from a deity) ָעזַר ‘āzar ’azar he helped Verbs m. = masculine f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 28 416 Slides from the Unit Unit 28 417 Unit 28 418 Unit 28 419 Unit 28 420 Unit 28 421 Unit 28 422 Unit 28 423 Unit 28 424 Grammatical Remarks In this unit we return to our discussion of Hebrew verbs. As with the Qatal and Yiqtol forms, we have named this third verb pattern “Wayyiqtol” after the 3ms form of the verb ()וַיִּ ְקטֹל. In this way, we can name the verb only by its morphology without presuming anything about its meaning. The Wayyiqtol Verb – Morphology The Wayyiqtol form is also known as a “prefix conjugation” because the subject pronoun of the verb is attached to the basic form as a prefix. In fact, the Wayyiqtol form is identical to the Yiqtol form with a prefixed conjunction ו. The full paradigm is in your workbook, but here are a few extra notes: • The only visible difference between the Wayyiqtol form and the Yiqtol form with a simple conjunction (at least in the basic pattern, which is all we’ll study in this first level) is that the Wayyiqtol form begins with ( ַוinstead of ְ )וand inserts a dagesh into the subject prefix letter. • The 1cs form takes a qamats under the וand shows no dagesh in the prefixed ;אsince the guttural אcannot take a dagesh, the preceding short [a] vowel is lengthened to compensate. • The medieval grammarians gave the name “waw conversive” to the Wayyiqtol ו, since they assumed that this וconverted a future verb into a past tense verb. But modern scholars understand from comparative Semitics that there were once two different prefixed forms with entirely different functions. One of these became the Yiqtol form, and the other developed into the Wayyiqtol form. So it seems that the Wayyiqtol form is actually an ancient past tense form conserved after what medieval grammarians called the “waw conversive.” Translating Wayyiqtol The Wayyiqtol form is used as the regular narrative past tense in Biblical Hebrew prose, expressing the main line of action in a past tense narrative, so it is usually translated with the English simple past. We may translate the Wayyiqtol וinto English (“and,” “so,” “then,” etc.); but within certain contexts sometimes it is also possible or even preferable to omit this conjunction in the translation. Since the verbal affixes are so specific about the subject of each verb, a separate subject pronoun (e.g. “ וַיִּ ְסגֹּר הוּאhe closed”) isn’t necessary in Hebrew. But if no separate subject is written, English (whose verb forms are not so specific) requires us to translate the subject pronoun. Unit 28 425 Homework 1. Using the Unit 28 vocabulary list, fill in the crossword puzzle below with the correct Hebrew words. Each square will hold one consonant or vowel letter (mater lectionis); disregard the vowel pointing. Across 2. he helped 4. widow 5. honor 7. evil 1. מ 2. ע שׂ ה 3. 4. 6. 5. 7. Down 1. deed 3. god 4. cubit 6. he sought 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. הוֹשׁ ַע ְשׁל ִֹשׁים ֶא ֶלף ִאישׁ ֻ ְוַיִּ ְב ַחר י And Joshua chose 30,000 men… (Josh. 8:3) ֶלד ֶ ( וַיִּ ְג ַדּל ַהיּGen. 21:8) ( ִכּי־ ָב ְטחוּ בוֹ1 Chr. 5:20) צוּרם ָ ( וַיִּ ְז ְכּרוּ ִכּי־ ֱאל ִֹהיםPsa. 78:35) ָתן ָ וַיִּ ְק ְבּרוּ ֶאת־ ַע ְצמוֹת־ ָשׁאוּל וִ יהוֹנ ָמן ִ ( ְבּנוֹ ְבּ ֶא ֶרץ ִבּנְ י2 Sam. 21:14) ֶא ְל ָעזָר ַהכּ ֵֹהן... ָשׁים ִ ֵא ֶלּה ְשׁמוֹת ָה ֲאנ יהוֹשׁ ַע ֻ ִ( וNum. 34:17) וַיִּ ְשׁ ַמע ָדּוִ ד וַיִּ ְשׁ ַלח ֶאת־יוֹאָב וְ ֵאת ( ָכּל־ ַה ָצּ ָבא2 Sam. 10:7) Unit 28 426 3. Are the following verbs written in the Wayyiqtol form, or are they simply Yiqtol verbs with a prefixed conjunction? Circle the correct form and translate. וְ יִ ְכתֹּב Wayyiqtol ְ ו+ Yiqtol and he will write ַתּ ְכ ְתּ ִבי ִו Wayyiqtol ְ ו+ Yiqtol and you (f.s.) wrote ַתּ ְרדֹּף ִו Wayyiqtol ְ ו+ Yiqtol וְ ִת ְזכּ ְֹרנָה Wayyiqtol ְ ו+ Yiqtol וְ יִ ְשׁ ְלחוּ Wayyiqtol ְ ו+ Yiqtol ָא ְשׁפֹּט ֶו Wayyiqtol ְ ו+ Yiqtol וְ נִ ְז ַבּח Wayyiqtol ְ ו+ Yiqtol ַתּ ְק ְצרוּ ִו Wayyiqtol ְ ו+ Yiqtol 4. Convert the following Yiqtol verbs to the Wayyiqtol form. Yiqtol Wayyiqtol יִ ְכתֹּב ִתּ ְד ְרשׁוּ נִ ְסגֹּר ֶא ְפקֹד ִתּ ְר ַחק ִתּ ְב ְט ִחי יִ ְגנְ בוּ ִתּ ְשׁ ַמ ְענָה וַיִּ ְכתֹּב Unit 28 427 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§49c-e = pp. 133-34) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§47 = pp. 139-41) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§98 = pp. 107-08) Unit 28 428 Unit 29 Weqatal Verbs Unit Description: The fourth verbal form that we will learn is the form Weqatal. In the first part of this unit we will learn how to recognize this form. In the second part we will discover what the meaning of this form is and how to translate it into English. We will illustrate its usages using a variety of verses from the Bible. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 435 Unit 29 429 Vocabulary Category Hebrew English אֹזֶן ’ṓzen ’ózen ear (f.s.) ֶכּ ֶבשׂ kébeś kéves lamb (m.s.) ִמ ְס ָפּר mispār mispar number (m.s.) ַעמּוּד ‘ammûd ’amud pillar, column (m.s.) ַפּר par par young bull (m.s.) ֶשׁ ֶמן šémen shémen fat, oil (m.s.) ֵתּ ַשׁע tḗša‘ tésha nine (f.) ִתּ ְשׁ ִעים tiš‘îm tishim ninety ַעל־ ֵכּן ‘al-kēn ’al-ken therefore ָחזַק hāzaq hazaq ָח ַשׁב hāšab hashav ָל ַבשׁ lābaš lavash ָמ ַשׁח māšah mashah ָטה ָנ nātāh nata Nouns Numbers Transliteration Pronunciation Adverb Verbs ָע ַר ְך m. = masculine he was/became strong/firm he thought, planned he put on (clothing), ’arakh ‘ārak f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 29 430 he wore he anointed, smeared he stretched out; he inclined/turned he set in order, he arranged Slides from the Unit Unit 29 431 Unit 29 432 Unit 29 433 Unit 29 434 Unit 29 435 Unit 29 436 Unit 29 437 Grammatical Remarks In this unit we return to our discussion of Hebrew verbs. As with the other forms, we have ַ )וְ ָק. named this fourth verb pattern “Weqatal” after the 3ms form of the verb (טל The Weqatal Verb – Morphology The Weqatal form is also known as a “suffix conjugation” because the subject pronoun of the verb is attached to the basic form as a suffix. In fact, the Weqatal form is identical to the Qatal form with a prefixed conjunction ו. The full paradigm is in your workbook, but here are a few extra notes: • The only visible difference between the Weqatal form and the Qatal form with a simple conjunction is that the 1cs and 2ms Weqatal forms have an ultimate accent, not penultimate. • Remember that the conjunction ְ וchanges to וּwhen it precedes a word that begins with a ֶ וּק ַט ְל ְ ). shewa, as is the case with the second person plural suffixed forms (e.g. תּם • Other than in the 1cs and 2ms forms, there is no visible difference between the Weqatal form and the Qatal form with a simple conjunction, so we must understand the form by the context. But while the Qatal form only very rarely appears with the conjunction (e.g. “ וְ ָשׁ ַמעand he heard”), the Weqatal form must include the conjunction (e.g. “ וְ ָשׁ ַמעand he will hear”); so if we see a suffixed form prefixed by the conjunction ְו, it is most likely (though not always) a Weqatal form. A suffixed form without the prefixed ְ וhas to be a Qatal form. Translating Weqatal Concerning their modal usages, the Weqatal form is used with the same meaning as the Yiqtol verb (future or repeated action). One pragmatic distinction between these two verb forms is where they appear in a sentence. The Weqatal form always appears at the beginning of its clause (any part of a sentence that contains its own subject and verb), while the Yiqtol form usually appears in the middle or at the end of its clause. We may translate the Weqatal וinto English (“and,” “so,” “then,” etc.); but within certain contexts sometimes it is also possible or even preferable to omit this conjunction in the translation. Since the verbal affixes are so specific about the subject of each verb, a separate subject pronoun (e.g. סגַר הוּא ָ ְ“ וhe will close”) isn’t necessary in Hebrew. But if no separate subject is written, English (whose verb forms are not so specific) requires us to translate the subject pronoun. Unit 29 438 Homework 1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the appropriate word under each picture below. אֹזֶן a) ָח ַשׁב ֶכּ ֶבשׂ ָח ַשׁב ָמ ַשׁח ַעמּוּד ֵתּ ַשׁע c) b) e) d) f) ַפּר g) h) Unit 29 439 ִתּ ְשׁ ִעים 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. ָטה ְל ָבבוֹ )ִ (1 Kgs. 11:9כּי־נ ָ because his heart had turned ָדים ֲא ֵח ִרים ) (Lev. 6:4וְ ָל ַבשׁ ְבּג ִ )ַ (Lev. 14:29ה ֶשּׁ ֶמן ֲא ֶשׁר ַעל־ ַכּף ַהכּ ֵֹהן )ְ (1 Kgs. 18:31כּ ִמ ְס ַפּר ִשׁ ְב ֵטי ְבנֵי־ ַי ֲעקֹב אָרץ )ִ (Gen. 41:57כּי־ ָחזַק ָה ָר ָעב ְבּ ָכל־ ָה ֶ אָמ ְר ִתּי ִל ְבנֵי יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל )ַ (Lev. 17:12על־ ֵכּן ַ אַהרֹן ַהכּ ֵֹהן ֵאשׁ ַעל־ ַה ִמּ ְז ֵבּ ַח ָתנוּ ְבּנֵי ֲ וְ נ ְ ) (Lev. 1:7וְ ָע ְרכוּ ֵע ִצים ַעל־ ָה ֵאשׁ 3. Convert the following Qatal verbs to the Weqatal form. Unit 29 440 Weqatal Qatal וְ ָכ ַתב ָכּ ַתב ָר ַד ְפ ָתּ ַקנוּ ָחז ְ ָבּ ַט ְח ִתּי ְשׁ ַפ ְכ ֶתּם ָע ְזרוּ ָק ַצ ְר ְתּ ָשׁ ְמ ָעה 4. Write the number of the correct translation after each phrase, paying attention to how each Weqatal verb is translated in context. ( ְו ָל ַק ְח ָתּ ִא ָשּׁה ִל ְבנִ י ְליִ ְצ ָחקGen. 24:4) וְהיָה ְשׂ ָכ ִרי ָ (Gen. 30:32) ִמנְ ָחה ִהוא... וְאָמ ְר ָתּ ַ (Gen. 32:19) אָס ְפ ָתּ ֶאת־ ִז ְקנֵי יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל ַ ( ְוExo. 3:16) ( ְו ָשׂ ַמח ְבּ ִלבּוֹExo. 4:14) ָב ְחנוּ ַליהוָה ֱאל ֵֹהינוּ ַ ( ְוזExo. 8:23) וְע ַב ְר ִתּי ְב ֶא ֶרץ־ ִמ ְצ ַריִ ם ַבּ ַלּיְ ָלה ַהזֶּה ָ (Exo. 12:12) וְע ַמד ֶפּ ַתח ָהא ֶֹהל ָ (Exo. 33:9) 1. It will be my wages. 2. And he will be glad in his heart. 3. Then you shall say, “… it is a gift.” 4. We must sacrifice to the LORD our God. 5. And you shall gather the elders of Israel. 6. And it would stand at the entrance of the tent. 7. And you will get a wife for my son, for Isaac. 8. And I will pass through the land of Egypt on this night. Unit 29 441 7 Recommended Bibliography 1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley, Oxford, 1910. (§49h-m = pp. 134-35) 2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996. (§43 = pp. 134-35) 3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976. (§98 = pp. 107-08) Unit 29 442 Unit 30 Where We've Been Unit Description: "Where We've Been" is the name of our last meeting in this course. In this meeting we'll go back through the course and see the long way that we have come from our first unit until now. New Words in this Unit 15 Total New Words 450 Unit 30 443 Vocabulary Category Hebrew ָמין ִי Nouns Transliteration yāmîn Pronunciation yamin English right (hand) (f.s.) ִמ ְג ָרשׁ migrāš migrash open/common land, pasture-land (m.s.) אכה ָ ְמ ָל məlā’kāh məlakha occupation, work (f.s.) ְפּ ִרי pərî pəri fruit (m.s.) ְצ ָד ָקה sədāqāh tsədaka righteousness (f.s.) / ְשׂמֹאל ְשׂמֹאול śəmō’l səmol the left (m.s.) אַשּׁוּר ’aššûr ’ashur Asshur, Assyria ָבּ ֶבל bābel bavel Babel, Babylon ִציּוֹן siyyôn tsiyon Zion מוּאל ֵ ְשׁ šəmû’ēl shəmuel Samuel שׁ ְֹמרוֹן šōmrôn shomron Samaria ְל ַבד ləbad ləvad alone, by itself / אָהב ֵ אָהב ַ ’āhēb / ’āhab ’ahev / ’ahav he loved ָנגַע nāga‘ naga he touched, reached, struck ָסע ַנ nāsa‘ nasa he pulled out/up, set out, journeyed Proper Nouns Adverb / Adjective Verbs m. = masculine f. = feminine s. = singular Unit 30 444 Slides from the Unit Unit 30 445 Unit 30 446 Unit 30 447 Unit 30 448 Unit 30 449 Unit 30 450 Unit 30 451 Unit 30 452 Unit 30 453 Unit 30 454 Unit 30 455 Unit 30 456 Homework 1. Write the number of the correct translation after each phrase. ָסע ַ ( וְ ָה ָעם לֹא נNum. 12:15) 3 ( לֹא ַעל־ ַה ֶלּ ֶחם ְל ַבדּוֹDt. 8:3) וּצ ָד ָקה ְ ( וְ ָע ָשׂה ִמ ְשׁ ָפּטEze. 18:5) אַתּה יְ הוָה ֱאל ִֹהים ְל ַב ֶדּ ָך ָ (2 Kgs. 19:19) רוּשׁ ָל ִם ָ ְ( ָנגַע ַעד־ ַשׁ ַער ַע ִמּי ַעד־יMic. 1:9) ַשּׁה ֶ ( וְ ֶאת־ ְשׂמֹאלוֹ ַעל־רֹאשׁ ְמנGen. 48:14) ( וְ ַעל ָכּל־ ָבּ ֵתּי ַה ָבּמוֹת ֲא ֶשׁר ְבּ ָע ֵרי שׁ ְֹמרוֹן1 Kgs. 13:32) רוּשׁ ַל ִם ָ ְ ֶמ ֶל ְך־ ָבּ ֶבל הוּא וְ ָכל־ ֵחילוֹ ַעל־י... ( ָבּא2 Kgs. 25:1) 1. not on bread alone 2. you alone, LORD, are God 3. and the people did not set out 4. and his left hand on Manasseh’s head 5. and he does justice and righteousness 6. it has reached to the gate of my people, up to Jerusalem 7. the king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem 8. and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria Unit 30 457 2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English. ( ִמ ְג ְר ֵשׁי ֶה ָע ִריםNum. 35:4) the pasture lands of the cities מוּאל ֵ ַתּ ְק ָרא ֶאת־ ְשׁמוֹ ְשׁ ִ ( ו1 Sam. 1:20) תוֹך־ ַהגָּן ְ ( ְפּ ִרי ָה ֵעץ ֲא ֶשׁר ְבּGen 3:3) ( וַיִּ ְשׁ ַלח יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל ֶאת־יְ ִמינוֹGen. 48:14) אָרץ ֶ ֶמ ֶל ְך־אַשּׁוּר ַעל־ ָה... ָבּא (2 Kgs. 15:19) יוֹסף ֵ אָהב ֶאת־ ַ ( וְ יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאלGen. 37:3) הוּדה ָ ְוַיִּ ְב ַחר ֶאת־ ֵשׁ ֶבט י אָהב ֵ ( ֶאת־ ַהר ִציּוֹן ֲא ֶשׁרPsa. 78:68) We hope you’ve enjoyed learning Hebrew with us as much as we’ve enjoyed teaching you! We wish you the best in your future Hebrew studies and hope to see you again in our next course. ☺ Unit 30 458 Verbal Paradigms *accented syllables are bolded in the charts below* Qatal (Unit A20) Singular Plural First Person Common ָק ַט ְל ִתּי ָק ַט ְלנוּ Second Person Masculine ָק ַט ְל ָתּ ְק ַט ְל ֶתּם Second Person Feminine ָק ַט ְל ְתּ ְק ַט ְל ֶתּן Third Person Masculine ָק ַטל ָק ְטלוּ Third Person Feminine ָק ְט ָלה ָק ְטלוּ Yiqtol (Unit A24) Singular Plural First Person Common ֶא ְקטֹל נִ ְקטֹל Second Person Masculine ִתּ ְקטֹל ִתּ ְק ְטלוּ Second Person Feminine ִתּ ְק ְט ִלי ִתּ ְקט ְֹלנָה Third Person Masculine יִ ְקטֹל יִ ְק ְטלוּ Third Person Feminine ִתּ ְקטֹל ִתּ ְקט ְֹלנָה Wayyiqtol (Unit A28) Singular Plural First Person Common ָא ְקטֹל ֶו וַנִּ ְקטֹל Second Person Masculine ַתּ ְקטֹל ִו ַתּ ְק ְטלוּ ִו Second Person Feminine ַתּ ְק ְט ִלי ִו ַתּ ְקט ְֹלנָה ִו Third Person Masculine וַיִּ ְקטֹל וַיִּ ְק ְטלוּ Third Person Feminine ַתּ ְקטֹל ִו ַתּ ְקט ְֹלנָה ִו Weqatal (Unit A29) Singular Plural First Person Common וְ ָק ַט ְל ִתּי וְ ָק ַט ְלנוּ Second Person Masculine וְ ָק ַט ְל ָתּ וּק ַט ְל ֶתּם ְ Second Person Feminine וְ ָק ַט ְל ְתּ וּק ַט ְל ֶתּן ְ Third Person Masculine וְ ָק ַטל וְ ָק ְטלוּ Third Person Feminine וְ ָק ְט ָלה וְ ָק ְטלוּ
