Languages / Biblical Hebrew

Biblical Hebrew grammar for readers

Short notes for reading the Hebrew Bible. Every example comes from a text in this course.

Start reading Biblical Hebrew
No account needed. Your first line takes about three minutes.

Right to left, consonants first

Hebrew runs from right to left, so a line starts on the right. The letters are consonants. The dots and dashes around them are vowels, added by later scribes to preserve how the text was read aloud.

Don't try to learn them all at once. Short words come back so often that you'll start to recognise their shapes.

Small words join the next word

“And”, “the”, “in” and “like” are not separate words in Hebrew, and “to” often isn't either. They are single letters fixed to the front of the next word. This is why a line looks harder than it is: one written word can be two or three English ones.

God's name

The name written יְהוָה appears thousands of times. Jewish tradition does not pronounce it, and reads Adonai, “my Lord”, in its place. The vowels printed under it reflect that custom. Many English Bibles print “the LORD”. The translation used here prints “Yahweh”, which is the scholarly reconstruction.

Often no word for “is”

Hebrew usually puts two things side by side and leaves “is” out. When you see a noun beside a noun, or a noun beside a description, try adding “is” between them, or “was” if the story is in the past.

“My”, “your” and “his” are endings

Hebrew doesn't have separate words for “my” and “your” in front of a noun. It adds an ending to the noun. Nearly the same endings also go on prepositions and verbs. On a verb they mean “me”, “you” or “him”, and “me” is ־נִי, not ־ִי.

Stories run on “and he said”

Hebrew stories move forward with a special verb form that starts with וַ, “and”, usually followed by a doubled consonant. It describes one past event after another, and it comes before its subject. Once you know the shape, you can spot the backbone of any story.

וַיֹּאמֶר, “and he said”, is the one you'll see most often.

A word that marks the object

The little word אֵת (also written אֶת־) doesn't translate into English. It points at the thing being acted on, when that thing is definite. It's a helpful signal in a language where word order can vary, though poetry often leaves it out. A different אֵת means “with”.

Words grow from three letters

Most Hebrew words are built on a root of three consonants, with a general meaning. Vowels and added letters then shape it into nouns and verbs. Once you can see the root, one word you know opens up a whole family.

Psalm 121 is a good place to watch this happen, with the root ש־מ־ר, “keep” or “guard”.

Two nouns can mean “X of Y”

Hebrew has no ordinary word for “of”. It puts two nouns next to each other, and the first one is often shortened slightly, sometimes joined to the next by a small dash. “The” goes on the second noun only.

Two ways to make a verb

Hebrew has two main verb patterns. One adds endings, though the plain “he” form has none, and is usually finished action: “he created”. The other adds a letter to the front, and is usually unfinished or future action: “he will slumber”.

The front letter is your clue to who is doing it: א is “I”, י is “he”, and ת is usually “you” or “she”.

Two words for “not”

לֹא is the plain “not”, and it is used for facts and for firm commands. אַל is the everyday “don't”, and is also used for wishes and requests. Now and then it gives strong reassurance. Psalm 121 uses both, within two lines of each other.

Practise on real texts

These notes make most sense once you have seen the forms in context. Urling brings each one up as you meet it in a text.

Start reading Biblical Hebrew
No account needed. Your first line takes about three minutes.

Notes written by Claude and checked against Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, ed. Kautzsch, trans. Cowley (1910). Not yet reviewed by a Hebrew teacher.