1. א Biblical Hebrew The Hebrew Café Lesson 3 thehebrewcafe.com/forum
Textbook: Cook & Holmstedt’s Biblical Hebrew: A Student Grammar (2009)
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Review
חֲזָרָה
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חֲזָרָה
Read the following words and break them into syllables:
Break into syllables and pronounce: אֲנִי אַתָּה אַתֶּן אֲנַ֫חְנוּ הֵ֫מָּה יוֹסֵף סוּסְךָ
Name these vowels: םָ םַ םֶ םֹ םֵ םִ םֻ םֲ םֱ םֳ םְ וּ וֹ
Read the following words: יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּרוּךְ בָּרָא בְּרֵאשִׁית אֱלֹהִים תּוֹרָה תַּלְמוּד מִשְׁנָה תּוֹלְדוֹת
What are the two types of dagesh?
What letters can take the dagesh kal?
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חֲזָרָה
Go through the vocabulary found on page 14.
How do you say the following words in Hebrew? God/god/gods no, not king queen man woman word, thing Moses David people (group) city to, towards
How would you translate the following sentences or phrases into English?
הוּא אֱלֹהִים. עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל. הוּא כֹּהֵן. אֲנִי לֹא מֶ֫לֶךְ. אֶל־אֶ֫רֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל. בֶּן־משֶׁה הִיא מַלְכָּה. אִישׁ וְאִשָּׁה. שְׁלֹמֹה בֶּן־דָּוִד מֶ֫לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל.
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The Definite Article
הֵ״א הַיִּדּוּעַ
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הֵ״א הַיִּדּוּעַ
In English, we have two articles: a and the.
The first (“a”) is called the indefinite article, since it accompanies nouns that have not been referred to before. For example, before I mention any specific book that I have with me, I might say: I have a book in my bag.
The second (“the”) is called the definite article, since it accompanies nouns that have already been referred to before, the identity of which should be known to the hearer. For example, once I’ve already mentioned that I have a book in my bag, I will refer to it by saying: I picked the book up from the library yesterday afternoon.
What’s the difference between I saw a child in the park and I say the child in the park?
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הֵ״א הַיִּדּוּעַ
Hebrew only has one article. It is normally equivalent to the definite article (“the”) in English.
There is no word in Hebrew for “a.” To tell someone that you want a slice of pizza, you just say I want slice of pizza – leaving off the word “a.”
To say “the,” you generally just add הַ־ to the beginning of the word and double the consonant with a dagesh chazak. Examples: מֶ֫לֶךְ ← הַמֶּ֫לֶךְ מַלְכָּה ← הַמַּלְכָּה יוֹם ← הַיּוֹם the king the queen the day
The gutturals (א ה ח ע) and resh (ר) refuse the dagesh (they do not allow themselves to be doubled), and as a result הַ־ often becomes הָ־. אָדָם ← הָאָדָם עֵנָב ← הָעֵנָב רֹאשׁ ← הָרֹאשׁ the man the grape the head
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הֵ״א הַיִּדּוּעַ
There is a more complete list of changes that happen to הֵ״א הַיִּדּוּעַ (“the definite article”) at the top of page 22 in the book, which is also illustrated in a box in the middle of the page.
Read the following words with and without הֵ״א הַיִּדּוּעַ and explain which rule the article’s pointing follows.
לֵב הַלֵּב אָדוֹן הָאָדוֹן שָׁנָה הַשָּׁנָה רֹאשׁ הָרֹאשׁ דֶּ֫רֶךְ הַדֶּ֫רֶךְ עִיר הָעִיר עָרִים הֶעָרִים אִשָּׁה הָאִשָּׁה אֶ֫רֶץ הָאָ֫רֶץ* הָר הָהָר הָרִים הֶהָרִים הֵיכָל הַהֵיכָל
*Notice that the first vowel in this word changes when it takes the definite article. This is also true of some other words, such as עַם that becomes הָעָם among others.
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Prepositions
מִלּוֹת יַ֫חַס
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מִלּוֹת יַ֫חַס
Prepositions
There are three very important prepositions in Hebrew that come with a wide range of meanings. These prepositions are attached to the beginning of the word!
We will see in the future that there is also a verb form (called the “infinitive construct”) to which these prepositions can be added.
בְּ־
This preposition is generally used to say where something happened (“in, at”), what was used to do something (“with”), or against whom you fight or sin (“against”).
כְּ־
This preposition is generally used to make comparisons (“like, as”) or set something up against a rule or standard (“according to”).
לְ־
This preposition is generally used to express direction toward (“to”), intention (“to”), and the recipient of something given (“to, for”).
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מִלּוֹת יַ֫חַס
Prepositions (cont.)
When you attach an inseparable preposition (the name given to these specific prepositions) to a noun, it is normally straight forward.
יוֹם בְּיוֹם תּוֹרָה כְּתוֹרָה טוֹב לְטוֹב גַּן בְּגַן רֵאשִׁית בְּרֵאשִׁית אִשָּׁה לְאִשָּׁה סֵ֫פֶר בְּסֵ֫פֶר
If a noun has the definite article, the preposition essentially swallows up the ה but leaves the vowel and dagesh (if there is one).
הַיּוֹם בַּיּוֹם הַתּוֹרָה כַּתּוֹרָה הָאִישׁ לָאִישׁ הָעוֹלָם בָּעוֹלָם הֶהָרִים לֶהָרִים הָאָדָם כָּאָדָם
These three prepositions are the most commonly used prepositions in the Bible. Inseparable prepositions are often combined with other prepositions to create difference nuances.
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מִלּוֹת יַ֫חַס
Prepositions (cont.)
The last preposition that we look at in this chapter is מִן־ “from.”
This preposition is often attached with a makaf (־) to other words. Thus, we have מִן־הָאָ֫רֶץ “from the land” and מִן־הָעִיר “from the city.”
The nun may join to the following word and assimilate (disappear) into it, being represented only by dagesh chazak. Thus, מִזָּהָב “from gold” and מִסֵּ֫פֶר הַתּוֹרָה “from the Torah scroll.”
Before gutturals and resh, it reduces to מֵ־. Thus, we could say מֵהָאָ֫רֶץ “from the land” and מֵעָרִים רַבּוֹת “from many cities.”
These two forms have the same meaning and are found both ways throughout the text of the Bible.
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Conjunctive Vav
מִלַּת הַקִּשּׁוּר ו־
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מִלַּת הַקִּשּׁוּר ו־
The Conjunctive Vav
Just like the inseparable prepositions, the word “and” attaches to the word that follows it. In Hebrew, it is generally written as וְ־.
Here are some examples:
אִישׁ וְאִשָּׁה הָאִישׁ וְהָאִשָּׁה הַשָּׁמַ֫יִם וְהָאָ֫רֶץ מֶ֫לֶךְ וְעֶ֫בֶד הַתּוֹרָה וְהַמִּצְוָה
Before פ ,מ ,ב or simple sheva, וְ־ becomes וּ־. This is covered on page 25 of the textbook.
עִיר וּבַ֫יִת וּמֶ֫לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל קְטַנִּים וּגְדוֹלִים
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Comments
הֶעָרוֹת
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הֶעָרוֹת
Comments
With all of the prepositions and also the conjunctive vav that we’ve covered in this lesson, we should add a remark about what happens when they come up against a yud with sheva (יְ) in the text of the Bible.
In every case, the yud loses its consonantal value and becomes a vowel letter (םִי), and the sheva disappears.
יְרוּשָׁלַ֫יִם (יְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם): לִירוּשָׁלַ֫יִם, בִּירוּשָׁלַ֫יִם, כִּירוּשָׁלַ֫יִם, מִירוּשָׁלַ֫יִם, וִירוּשָׁלַ֫יִם
יְהוּדָה: לִיהוּדָה, בִּיהוּדָה, כִּיהוּדָה, מִיהוּדָה, וִיהוּדָה
יְשׁוּעָה: לִישׁוּעָה, בִּישׁוּעָה, כִּישׁוּעָה, מִישׁוּעָה, וִישׁוּעָה
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הֶעָרוֹת
Comments
With composite sheva, the prepositions (except for מִ־) adopt the corresponding short vowel.
וַאֲנִי וֶאֱדוֹם וַחֲדַר וָחֳדָשִׁים וַאֲנַ֫חְנוּ
כֶּאֱדוֹם בַּחֲדַר לָחֳדָשִׁים
A couple of important exceptions to this are אֱלֹהִים and אֲדֹנָי, with which we get the following forms with the inseparable particles:
וֵאלֹהִים (וֶאֱלֹהִים) לַאדֹנָי (לַאֲדֹנָי)
This also applies to the name of God, which is substituted by these words in reading: וַיהוָה and לַיהוָה.
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18. מַטְּרוֹת הַשִּׁעוּר הַשְּׁלִישִׁי
Goals of Lesson 3
מַטְּרוֹת הַשִּׁעוּר הַשְּׁלִישִׁי
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19. מַטְּרוֹת הַשִּׁעוּר הַשְּׁלִישִׁי
The third lesson’s goals are basically as follows:
The definite article (הַ־). In Hebrew, it is called הֵ״א הַיִּדּוּעַ.
Basic coverage of the different possible vowels that come with הֵ״א הַיִּדּוּעַ.
The inseparable prepositions (בְּ־ כְּ־ לְ־) and how they attach to nouns.
The preposition מִן־ and the three forms in which it appears in the Tanach (מִן־ מִ־ מֵ־).
The conjunctive vav (וְ־) and its vowels.
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20. א Biblical Hebrew The Hebrew Café Lesson 3 thehebrewcafe.com/forum
Textbook: Cook & Holmstedt’s Biblical Hebrew: A Student Grammar (2009)
Found here online: