Biblical Hebrew - WordPress
Biblical HebrewA Discourse-Based ApproachFrederic Clarke Putnam, PH.D.Wnyle[' WnyhelO a/ yn"dao ] [;nO yhiywIWnyle[' hn"nA K Wnydey" hfe[m] W; WhnEnA K WnydEy" hfe[]m;W17.c 'lhtAnd may the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;And the work of our hands establish for us;And the work of our hands, establish it.Ps 90.17
2006, 2009 Frederic Clarke PutnamAll rights reserved.2
PrefaceTof introductory grammars of Biblical Hebrew since c. 1990 begs the question: “Whyanother?” This grammar exists,first, because as my understanding of Hebrew1 became increasinglydiscourse- and genre-oriented, I needed a grammar from which to teach. When the supplementary handoutsovertook the “regular” textbook, I realized that it would be simpler just to fill in the gaps; you hold the result.Secondly, students who pursued postgraduate studies reported that they were better-prepared inHebrew than their classmates (and even, in some cases, were as well-prepared as their professors), andstrongly encouraged me to persevere. The positive response of other professionals, including linguists,translators, and professors, has likewise encouraged me to bring it to fruition.HE RISING TIDECharacteristics1. Frequency. As much as possible, those aspects of the language which are most frequent, common, or“usual” are studied before the less common. The verb is presented beginning with the two conjugations(imperfect and preterite) whose parallel morphology (common subject affixes) accounts for more thanforty percent of all verbal forms in Biblical Hebrew. Vocabulary is introduced in approximate order offrequency, allowing, of course, for the order of topics. The combined “supplementary” vocabulary lists(Appendix A) and those in the chapters introduce all words used fifty times or more in BIBLICALHEBREW (approximately 650 words in all). The verbal stems are the exception to this pattern offrequency; I find it more helpful pedagogically to link these by form and function rather than frequency.Furthermore, students find it helpful to interrupt the cascade of weak verbal roots with non-morphologicaltopics in order to allow students time to assimilate the characteristics of each type of root.There are a number of statistics scattered throughout the lessons, such as how often a particularconjugation, stem, or other form occurs. These statistics are not intended to imply or establish the relativesignificance of grammatical forms; they are included because students frequently ask how often they canexpect to see this or that phenomenon. Most of them are rounded off to the nearest whole number.2. Simplicity. First-year students need to learn enough grammar and syntax to get them into the text.Beginning to understand a language comes from extensive interaction with the language as it occurs, notfrom memorizing paradigms and vocabulary, necessary as that is. This text presents basic grammar asquickly as has proven practical, with the goal that students begin reading the text fairly early in their firstsemester of study. Noun formation is described very simply, and primarily in terms of recognition. Forexample, the guttural verbal roots are presented in one brief lesson, rather than a half-dozen lengthy ones.After completing this study, students should be able to develop their understanding of Hebrew grammarand syntax by reading the biblical text with the aid of standard reference works. By the end of their secondsemester/term of Hebrew, students should have read at least ten chapters directly from the Hebrew Bible,in addition to many partial and whole verses in the exercises.3. Continuity with previous language study. Semiticists traditionally arrange verbal charts (paradigms) fromthe third to the first persons (3rd-2nd-1st [e.g., she/he-you-I]), and pronominal paradigms in the oppositeorder (1st-2nd-3rd). This is both contrary to the experience of students who have studied other languages inhigh school or college (where all paradigms are arranged 1st-2nd-3rd person), and confusing to beginningstudents (who need to remember that the order varies according to the type of paradigm). This text uses theorder 1st-2nd-3rd for all paradigms. Students who pursue advanced studies in Hebrew or Semitics will needto orient themselves to the academic paradigms.4. A linguistic orientation. Explanations in this grammar assume that language in general is an aspect ofhuman behavior. Hebrew was a human language, a form of behavior that—like every other language—canbe more or less (and more rather than less) understood by other human beings. This reflects the furtherconviction that languages—and the utterances in which they are incarnate—thus exist and function within1Unless otherwise qualified, the terms “Biblical Hebrew” and “Hebrew” refer interchangeably to the language of the biblical text (MTas represented by BHS); “Classical Hebrew” refers to both biblical and epigraphic materials.3
larger societal patterns and systems; each part of any such system must, as much as possible, beunderstood in relation to the system of which it is a part, upon which it depends, and to which itcontributes.This text therefore aims at inculcating this understanding of language in general, and of BiblicalHebrew as an example of a particular stage of a specific language. Furthermore, since language is anaspect of human behavior, Biblical Hebrew is an example of the linguistic behavior of human beings—authors and speakers—in a particular time and place, and therefore must be read as an example of normalhuman communication, regardless of the speaker’s [author’s] understanding of his or her mission orpurpose in writing, and equally, without regard for the reader’s view of the Bible as human or divine (orhuman and divine) in origin. Biblical Hebrew is not some extraordinary language, chosen for its ability tocommunicate at or beyond certain levels of human understanding. It was merely one aspect of an everydayhuman language, and should be read as such.A specific appliction of this idea is that verbal conjugations are explained in terms of theirfunction in biblical genres. The string of preterites (wayyiqtol, “waw-conversive/consecutive plusimperfect”) in a biblical story outlines the backbone of the narrative, or the narrative chain; it is a formwith a discourse-level function that is related to the discourse-level functions of verbal conjugations, typesof clause, etc.At the same time, however, I have tried to avoid linguistic jargon and trivia, or at least to explainthem when they are introduced. The term “function” tends to replace the word “meaning,” and verbalconjugations are explained in terms of their contextual function (rather than “defined” by a list of possibletranslation values). There is a glossary of terms in Appendix C.5. Exercises. Most of the exercises are biblical texts taken from Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS). Inorder to allow teachers to assign texts that best suit the purposes and goals of their particular course andprogram, there are often more exercises than can be completed. [§5.10 explains the purpose and functionof the exercises.]6. Appendices. Appendices include supplementary vocabulary lists (above); an alphabetical list of propernouns (persons and places) that occur fifty times or more in the Hebrew Bible; pronominal and verbalparadigms, including a table of some easily confused verbal forms; a glossary of morphosyntactic terms; adescription of the qal passive; and an annotated bibliography.7. Schedule & Workload. This grammar was designed for two semesters (twenty-six weeks). The lessonsassume that an average student who follows a normal schedule of eight to twelve hours of study per weekin addition to time in class will achieve an average grade in the course.8. Pacing. The lessons introducing the “weak” verbal roots begin in Lesson 24. They are interspersed withlessons on reading biblical genres and the Masora because students found it helpful to have time to absorbone set of forms before encountering the next.Students and I have found it practical to work through Lessons 1-22 in one semester of fifteenweeks, meeting twice per week; in the second semester we alternate studying a lesson with translating anextended biblical text, for example, the story of Abraham (see “10. Additional Resources Online”, below).This means that they encounter verbal forms and vocabulary in the text before meeting them “formally” inthe grammar, which lets them connect the more abstract presentation with a biblical passage. We alsobegin reading at sight from the biblical text in the sixth or eighth week of the first semester, usually in anextra “reading session” of 30-45 minutes before or after the official class.9. References. References to HBI are to my Hebrew Bible Insert: A Student’s Guide to the Syntax of BiblicalHebrew (1996), a booklet covering nominal, adjectival, pronominal, verbal, and clausal syntax, the“major” masoretic accents, and complete verbal paradigms.10. Additional Resources Online. Reading notes on Abraham (Gn 12-25), Ruth (1-4), Jonah (1-4), and othermaterials may be downloaded without charge from www.fredputnam.org.4
Notes for TeachersMy courses entail many “discussions” or “conversations”—which appear ad hoc and ad lib to students, but arein fact carefully planned—that would make this work too long, tedious, and “chatty”. An example of this is theall-too-brief discussion of vocabulary (Lesson 2), which merely hints at a discussion of lexical and theoreticalsemantics and translation that resurfaces throughout their first year of study. In order to avoid this tediousness,and to protect other teachers from the need to disavow (at least some of) my idiosyncracies, I leave to theindividual teacher the task of filling in the gaps that are thereby necessarily created. In other words, becauseschools, teachers, and students are individual, what is effective in one context (a course, its teacher, and thecurriculum of which they are part) may not be in another, as any good teacher knows.AcknowledgementsI am both privileged and honored to be able to dedicate this work to my wife, Emilie, and our daughters, Lydiaand Abigail, who encourage and pray for me without ceasing. She is my crown; they are our delight.I am also thankful for the suggestions and corrections of many of my students, especially ChrisDrager, Abigail Redman, and Bob Van Arsdale; for those offered by Rick Houseknecht (Biblical TheologicalSeminary) and Michael Hildebrand (Toccoa Falls College), who have used this text in their own teaching; andfor the extensive editorial help of Julie Devall and Jordan Siverd (although not even they can catch all of myerrors). My goal in this, as in all things, is that people of the Book might grow in their ability to read it, andthus to delight in its beauty and truth.S.D.G.Frederic Clarke PutnamAscension MMVITrinity MMVIII5
ContentsPart I: Reading & Pronouncing Hebrew . 6Introduction . 71. Alphabet . 82. Vowels . 143. Syllables . 23Part II: Nominal GrammarGrammar andVerbal Grammar (I): The Qal . 314. The Noun (Article, Conjunction waw) . 325. The Verb: The Imperfect (Prefix Conjugation). 426. The Preterite . 557. Prepositions . 648. Commands & Prohibitions . 729. The Construct Chain . 7710. The Perfect (Suffix Conjugation) . 8411. Adjectives . 9112. The Participle (Verbal Adjective) . 9913. Pronominals (I): Independent . 10414. Pronominals (II): Suffixes . 11115. Stative Verbs (& Haya) . 12016. The Infinitives . 12917. Questions, Negation, Numerals . 137Part III: Verbal Grammar (II)(II) andReading Hebrew Narrative .18. Other Stems (& Nifal) .19. The D-Stems (Piel, Pual, Hitpael) .20. The H-Stems (Hifil, Hofal) .21. The Qal Passive and Identifying (Parsing) Verbal Forms .22. Guttural Verbal Roots .23. Basic Tools .24. Weak Verbs: Introduction and III-h (h"l) Verbal Roots .25. Pre-reading Hebrew Narrative .26. Weak Verbs: I-n (!"p) Verbal Roots .27. Pre-reading Hebrew Poetry .28. Weak Verbs: Hollow (II-y/w (y/w"[)) Verbal Roots .29. The Masora .30. Weak Verbs: I-y/w (y/w"p)Verbal Roots .31. Weak Verbs: Geminate (["[)Verbal Roots ndices .A. Supplementary Vocabulary .B. Hebrew-English Glossary (with a list of common proper nouns) .C. Glossary of Morphosyntactic Terms .D. Paradigms .E. The Qal Passive .F. Annotated Bibliography .2532542582742802932956
Part I: Introduction & Lessons 1 – 3Reading & Pronouncing HebrewThis section introduces the writing system of Biblical Hebrew (alphabet, vowels), and how to pronouncewords (accent, syllables). It also addresses the nature of vocabulary (gloss and meaning). By the end of thesethree chapters, you should be able to look at a Hebrew word, spell and pronounce it, analyze its parts(syllables, dageš, šewa), and recognize more than thirty of the most common words in Biblical Hebrew.One of the biggest barriers to learning to read Hebrew is moving our eyes from right to left. IndoEuropean culture assumes a left-to-right orientation that affects our perception and experience of just abouteverything.A college pal, Larry, was telling me about his first year at a companythat markets American products in the Middle East.“My initial project, a soft-drink account, was terrific, but very nearlycost me my job,” he said. “To avoid language problems, I erected a threepanel storyboard. The first panel depicted a guy drenched in sweat, standingin the desert. The middle panel showed him gulping down a bottle of oursoda. And in the third panel, he’s fully refreshed with a big smile.”“Sounds great,” I told him. “What was the problem?”Larry said, “I didn’t know Arabs read right to left!”2In the same way, highway signs list the town to the left of (before) the distance, again based on theassumption that people read left to right (and that “where” to turn is more important than “how far”).This cultural pattern means that reading right-to-left is a major hurdle for most students—a hurdle thatis not merely physical, but mental and emotional—because reading right-to-left feels wrong (especially forthose who have learned reading techniques such as quickly returning the eyes to the beginning of the next line at the left margin).When we add to this the non-alphabetic nature of the vowel symbols, and sounds that are not part ofthe vocal system of most English speakers, the task becomes daunting. The importance of the material in theseopening chapters, and the value of pronouncing Hebrew aloud as much as possible, therefore, can hardly beoverstated. Accordingly, you should read the examples in the chapters aloud, and read the exercises aloud, inorder to attune both eye and ear to the patterns of Hebrew.2Jim J. Walsh. Reader’s Digest (November 1997), 119.7
IntroductionT3illustrate some of the similarities and differences betweenHebrew and English, which you will notice as soon as you try to read them.HESE REFORMATTED BIBLICAL QUOTATIONS.dg m dg ry dna lpp m b llš lpp ry .1o yo ou: a e eo y e : a e eo ou.sla knrd slmc ry vg llw a dna knrd .2O :a:i :: e a ou : i: i ia:i :.uoy ssruc tht h sa dsruc dna ouy ssslb tht h sa dsslb .3e:aeie:ae :e:a eie:e :.lluf tn sa s ht ty s ht tna nur srvr ht lla .4:oi ea ee ea eo: i:ei ea.rp ht srdsnc tht h sa dsslb .5oo ewo:e i: oa: eie:e :.tpw dna nd ts w nlbb fa srvr ht b .6: eaaeoyao: ei eyAlthough they are certainly not written in Hebrew, these sentences exemplify some of the main differencesbetween Hebrew and English orthography [writing].1.Hebrew is read from right to left.2.Hebrew vowels are written around (mainly below, but also above and beside) the consonants; theyare mainly dots (called “points”) and dashes that are much smaller than the consonants.3.Words cannot begin with a vowel—there must be a consonant, even if it is silent to our ears (e.g., thea (alef) in these sentences).4.Hebrew has a sign ( . ) that shows that there is no vowel between two consonants (e.g., the lastvowel point in #4 and #6).At the same time, however, there are significant differences between this example and Biblical Hebrew (apartfrom the obvious difference of using English [Latin] symbols):1. The vowels are [much] smaller signs, not part of the Hebrew alphabet (i.e., they are not “letters”).2. Biblical Hebrew has no capital letters.3. Biblical Hebrew has no “punctuation” that corresponds in any direct way to English [European]punctuation.3P. H. Mason & Hermann Hedwig Bernard, Gently Flowing Waters: An easy, practical Hebrew grammar: with exercises fortranslation . arranged in a series of letters from a teacher of languages to an English duchess in two volumes: To which is attachedMa’eyney ha-Yesĥū’ah: The fountains of salvation, being a translation, with notes critical and explanatory of Isaiah LIII. Also: HaMafteah , key to the exercises. Vol. 1, Letters I-XV (Cambridge: J. Hall & Son, 1853), as reproduced in J. H. Eaton, First Studies inBiblical Hebrew (Sheffield: JSOT/Sheffield Academic Press, 1980), v.8
Lesson 1 The Hebrew Alphabettwenty-two letters, some of which have more than one form. Two lettersdistinguished only by the position of a dot (f, v) were a single sign until the Masoretes added the points(lines in Ps 119.161-68, the “X” section, begin with both).THE HEBREW ALPHABET hasFollow yourteacher’s ventvbgoatgdoordhopehhventvv or wzoozzHughch (loch)hititlettIyetyj or ykeelkkhewch fordfpeatstssikeelkqr-rightr BbGgDdhwzxjyKklmns[PpcqrfvTtggdd !@#tName(accent is bolded)alefbet(“bait”)gimeldalethe amekayinpe(“pay”)siiadeqofreš (“raysh”)sin (“seen”)šin (“sheen”)tofThis “square script”—in contrast to the cursive found in manuscripts and the “archaic” forms used ininscriptions—was standardized after the invention of the printing press. Adapted from the Aramaic alphabet,9
this alphabet is found in published Hebrew Bibles and prayerbooks, as well as in academic books and journals.Most of these comments (below) on the shapes of the letters do not apply to extra-biblical inscriptions ororiginal biblical manuscripts (no biblical author would easily recognize these letters!). These comments, someof which overlap, are intended as guidelines, not as rules for memorization.1.Hebrew is written and read from right to left. Practice writing and reading the alphabet in that order.2.There is only one alphabet; i.e., there are no “capital” or “small” letters.3.Like some other Semitic scripts, this alphabet is “consonantal”—i.e., none of the letters of the alphabetdirectly represent vowels (cf. “a”, “e”, “i”, “o”, “u”), although a few consonants could be used to indicatethe presence of long vowels.4.The letters listed with and without a dot (B/b, G/g, D/d, K/k, P/p, T/t) are called the begad-kefat letters(tpk-dgb), a nonsense phrase made up of the letters themselves (the rabbis were fond of such mnemonicdevices). At one time these letters had two pronunciations, distinguished by the presence or absence of thedageš lene, but only B/b, K/k, and P/p are distinguished in modern Hebrew. When spelling a Hebrewword with English letters (transliterating), the letter without dageš is either underlined or followed by “h”to show that it is “soft” (e.g,. “b/bh”, “k/kh”, “p/ph”).This difference is sub-phonemic, i.e., it does not distinguish one word from another in BiblicalHebrew. In English, on the other hand, this same difference would be quite meaningful (phonemic): one’sresponse to “Come to su er!” would probably be affected by whether the middle consonant was f or p!5.Four letters are called “gutturals” (a, h, x, [), so-called because they represent sounds made in the throat(Latin guttur).6.Since some pairs of letters sound alike, you will need to learn to recognize Hebrew words by both sightand sound, and to distinguish them by sight.a [s Fx k %bWK Qj T t7.silentschor hivas in sighas in loch, Bachor hew, Hughas in ventkas in keeltas in toughFive letters have a special form used only at the end of a word. Four of these final forms have“descenders”; note their length relative to other letters.Initial/Medial FormdbK%lmaybnalPhdckmnpc10Final Form% !@#%ra da!ba@la#ra
8.Some pairs of letters are similar in appearance:To distinguish them, note the dbh jgxwcf%9.rkxsmntz[v!tittle—the small extension of the horizontal stroke—on dalet and betleft side—open or closedlower corners—square or roundopen at top or bottomshape of bottom—“arched” or flatshape of left leg—straight or bent; tittle on right side of hietshape of topdot on left or right; this is a later (medieval/Masoretic) distinctionšewa tittle in final kaf (which also has a longer [wider] top stroke)The Dead Sea Scrolls also reveal that Hebrew scribes often inscribed a line onto the parchment, and thensuspended the text from the line (rather than resting the letters on the line, as in English). This is why somany letters have a horizontal stroke near the top of the letter, and why Hebrew tends to use descendersrather than ascenders.Sixteen letters fit within a “square” and several of these are roughly square in appearance, i.e.,roughly the same height and width. Listed alphabetically (from right to left), they are:tvfrcp[smkjxhdbaThree non-final forms (y, l, q) and the four final forms with descenders (#9, above) differ from thestandard in height. The non-final forms are: yod is only half of the height and width of the other letters (itsyhywtop is even with the others) lamed extends above the other lettershlyl qof [and four final forms (#9, above)] extend below the othersarqmFive letters are also narrower than the standard width (g w z y n). Each is roughly one-half as wide as thesquare. Yod (the “jot” of Mt 5.18), at roughly one-fourth of the square, is the smallest letter in the Hebrewalphabet.10. The names of the letters are transliterated into English. Disyllabic names are accented on the first syllable(e.g., a' lef, gi' mel). [Transliteration is usually cender medial formconsonant final form square script11tittletransliteration
1.3Exercises1. Explain the significance of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5.18.2. Practice reciting the Hebrew alphabet, and writing it from right to left, with the final forms following theirmedial forms.3. Esther 3.13 is one of twenty-six verses that contain every letter in the alphabet. Copy it in Hebrew, practicespelling the words by naming the Hebrew letters from right to left (words linked by a horizontal line (e.g.,!qz-d[w) are considered separate words (the line is called maqqef)), and find the final forms (there are ten).Which final form does not occur in this verse?%lMh twnydm-lK-la ycrh dyB yrps xwlvnwdxa wyB yvnw @j !qz-d[w r[Nm ydwhYh-lK-ta lBalW grhl dymvhl zwbl llvw rda vdx-awh rf[- ynv vdxl rf[ hvwlvB4. This is an alphabetical list of most of the proper names that occur more than 175 times in Biblical Hebrew(“c”, “d”, “h” are titles and generic nouns). Write their English form, and practice spelling them aloud inHebrew. Use the references—the first time that name occurs—to check your work.Example:Gn 25.26Gn 13.10Josh 10.1Gn 32.28Gn 9.18Gn 29.34Gn 19.37Ex 2.10Gn 10.14Gn 12.15Gn 36.372 Sam 5.14N.B.dGbq[y!Dry dalet”m.n.o.p.q.r.s.t.u.v.w.x.“Gad”Gn 17.5Ex 4.14Gn 14.20Gn 1.1Gn 41.52Gn 10.10Gn 35.18Jg 2.131 Sam 16.13Gn 29.35Ex 14.13Gn 30.24 hrba!rhala yhla j.k.l.When transliterated, some of these will not resemble their English counterparts, for one or more ofthese reasons. [This grammar uses the “received” transliteration.]a. The “J” that begins many names in English Bibles represents initial y; within names y often appears as“i” or merely indicates the presence of a vowel (see, e.g., exercises d, r, u [above]), but there areexceptions (below). This is because Latin used the letter “i” to transliterate y (as the correspondingGreek letter iota had been used centuries earlier in the Septuagint), and also because the letter “j” wasnot distinguished orthographically from “i” until the 17th century. The English Bible has inherited thetransliteration of biblical names from these two sources. In some ecclesiastical traditions, for example,“Jesu”, representing an older “Iesu” is pronounced “Yesu” or “Yezu”.12
y@seAyhd'Why WhY"xa; ]y “j”jôsēfWhy"mr. y. I yhilO a/Hy"-Wll.h;Josephey hûdāJudaha’ hayyāhûAhijah “i”yirmeyāhûe’ lōhîmJeremiahElohimehal lû-yāh Halleluiahb. The gutturals (a, h, x, [) are either ignored when names are transliterated (laqzxy Ezekiel) orrepresented by a second vowel (!Arha Aaron), reflecting the transliterations of the Septuagint andVulgate.c. Two forms of waw represent long vowels (note the dots):WlWav'A “û”šā’ûl Saul@seAy “ô”jôsēf Josephd. The letter c is often represented by “z” in traditional biblical transliteration (but not in academictransliteration, where it is represented by either ts or si).c!AYciWhYqidc. i “z”siiyyônZionsiidqyhû Zedekiahe. The letter v is often represented by “s” in traditional biblical transliteration (š in academictransliteration). “s”vhmolO v. Ilv; W' ry eš lomoSolomonjerûšālaim Jerusalem13
1.4EnrichmentNo one knows why the biblical poets wrote acrostic [alphabetically organized] poems (the most famous is Ps119); perhaps they were a type or sty
References to HBI are to my Hebrew Bible Insert: A Student’s Guide to the Syntax of Biblical Hebrew (1996), a booklet covering nominal, adjectival, pronominal, verbal, and clausal syntax, the “major” masoretic accents, and complete verbal paradigms. 10. Additional Resources Online. Read
Basics of Biblical Hebrew (Zondervan, 2001). Zondervan offers various other materials associated with Pratico and Van Pelt’s grammar, like Miles V. Van Pelt, Biblical Hebrew: A Compact Guide (Zondervan, 2012). Putnam, Fredric. A New Grammar of Biblical Hebrew (Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2010). Ross, Allen P. Introducing Biblical Hebrew (Baker .
Learning the Hebrew language can be both fun and exciting. By simply studying the pages that follow, for just a few minutes a day, you will soon be reading Hebrew, build a Hebrew vocabulary and even begin translating Biblical passages for your self. About Hebrew The English word "alphabet" is derived from the first two .
To learn the basics of biblical Hebrew grammar and syntax, including crucial concepts such as the Hebrew root system and verb parsing. To build a basic vocabulary in biblical Hebrew, consisting generally of the words used most frequently in the Bible.
Hebrew language including: 1. The Hebrew alphabet and vowels. 2. Hebrew prefixes and suffixes. Ancient Hebrew Dictionary 2 3. Pronouns, prepositions, etc. 4. Hebrew numbers. 5. Hebrew verb conjugations. Dictionary Format Below is an example entry, followed by an explanation of its .
The Hebrew Bible Accents, Pausal Forms, Hebrew Bibles, Masoretic Notes, & How to Prepare a Passage for Class 2017.04.03 Reading Biblical Hebrew. Roadmap 2 Sof Pasuq Accents Pausal Forms Hebrew Bibles Masoretic Notes How to Prepare a Passage. 3 Sof Pasuq . Sof Pasuq (קוּסָּפ ףוֹס) ׃Groups Words into Verses 4
individual languages (including Modern Hebrew, see Siloni 2005, Rubinstein 2007, etc.), but the unique reciprocal constructions of Biblical Hebrew have not been given much attention. It is the goal of this paper to describe and briefly analyze the two primary methods of reciprocal construction in Biblical Hebrew.
The method used for learning the Hebrew of the Old Testament is based on the internet video Bible Hebrew VPOD produced by the author. This program is based on the three fundamentals: Chapter reading of the grammar book Video instruction using the Hebrew video
Mishnaic Hebrew roots is roughly 800); (ii) around 6000 are a subset of Biblical Hebrew; and (iii) several thousand are Aramaic words which can have a Hebrew form. Medieval Hebrew(s) added more than 6000 words to Hebrew. The approximate number of new lexical items in Israe
