Writing Biblical Hebrew

Although the purpose of this blog is to discuss aspects of composing in biblical Hebrew that you probably won't find in grammar books, this post is a little exception because this is a rule that's easy to miss when writing, especially when it comes to the interrogative ה for yes-no questions.  The rule: you cannot have two shewa vowels together at the beginning of a word.   You may have two shewas together in the middle of a word ( אִשְׁתְּךָ ), and occasionally the end of a word ( וַיֵּבְךְּ, הָלַכְתְּ ), but not the beginning. This rule is the reason we see changes like the following, to break up the initial cluster of shewas and/or hatef  (half) vowels:  vav conj. before shewa becomes וּ   וְ + לְאַבְרָם = וְלְאַבְרָם ←  וּ לְאַבְרָם      vav conj. before yod+shewa becomes וִ   וְ + יְהוּדָה = וְיְהוּדָה ←  וִ יהוּדָה vav conjunction & prepositions ב,כ,ל  before hatef vowel copy following vowel  וְ + אֲנִי = וְאֲנִי ←  וַ אֲנִי בְּ + אֱמֶת = בְּאֱמֶת ←  בֶּ אֱמֶת

1 word, 2 pronunciations, 3 vowel pointing variations... what is up with מָה? In the biblical text, we have a number of different spellings of this basic question word 'what': מֶה, מָה, מַה. This is definitely not the final word on the subject, and it doesn't account for all the exceptions found in the text, but here are the working guidelines I use to decide which form to use when composing original text in Biblical Hebrew. מֶה  The form מֶה comes before words that start with ע or ח* . The most common is in questions like "what have you done?" or "what did the man do?" that use the verb עָשָׂה 'to do' in qatal forms. מֶה עָ שִׂיתָ (Gen 4:10) what have you done? מֶה עֲ כַרְתָּנוּ (Josh. 7:25) why have you brought trouble on us? מֶה עַ בְדְּךָ (2 Sam. 9:8) what is your servant? מֶה חָ טָאתִי (1 Kings 18:9) how have I sinned? אֵדְעָה מֶה־ חָ דֵל אָנִי (Ps.39:4) let me know how fleeting I am We also find מֶה before the word  הָיָה : לֹא יָדַעְנ

Since most verbs in Hebrew apply equally to humans and animals doing the action (including הלך, שׁתה, אכל), you might assume that the verb שׁכב 'to lie down,' would be the same. While working on the video that teaches שׁכב, I found some stock footage of a cow lying down and a horse lying down and happily included them in my video draft. Thankfully, one of my checkers pointed out that this verb doesn't seem to apply to animals, so I removed those clips before releasing the final draft. For animals lying down, you should use the verb רבץ. This is sometimes translated 'lie down' and sometimes 'crouch,' depending on the context. The evidence:  וְהִנֵּה־שָׁ֞ם שְׁלֹשָׁ֤ה עֶדְרֵי־צֹאן֙ רֹבְצִ֣ים עָלֶ֔יהָ (Gen. 29:2) ...and behold three flocks of sheep lying beside it... כִּֽי־תִרְאֶ֞ה חֲמוֹר שֹׂנַאֲךָ֗ רֹבֵץ֙ תַּ֣חַת מַשָּׂאוֹ  (Ex.23:5) If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden... וַתֵּ֤רֶא הָֽאָתוֹן֙ אֶת־מַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהוָ֔ה וַתִּרְבַ

I'm embarrassed about this mistake, to be honest... always check The mistake I made:  In AwB lesson 60 when I taught the verb נָשַׁק 'to kiss,' I included a number of examples, all using אֶת־ for the object, such as: הַיֶּלֶד נָשַׁק אֶת־ אָחִיו - the boy kissed his brother הָאִשָּׁה נָשְׁקָה אֶת־ בְּנָהּ  - the woman kissed her son אַבְרָם נָשַׁק אֹתִ י  - Avram kissed me What I should have done:  הַיֶּלֶד נָשַׁק  לְ אָחִיו  - the boy kissed his brother הָאִשָּׁה נָשְׁקָה  לִ בְנָהּ  - the woman kissed her son אַבְרָם נָשַׁק  לִ י  - Avram kissed me The object of the verb נָשַׁק takes the lamed preposition, not אֶת־. The evidence: וַיִּשַּׁ֥ק יַעֲקֹ֖ב לְ רָחֵ֑ל  - Jacob kissed Rachel (Gen.29:11) וַיִּשַּׁ֥ק לָ הֶ֖ם - and he kissed them (Gen.48:10) וַתִּשַּׁ֤ק עָרְפָּה֙ לַ חֲמֹותָ֔הּ - Orpah kissed her mother-in-law (Rut.1:14) אֶשְּׁקָה־נָּא֙ לְ אָבִ֣י וּ לְ אִמִּ֔י - Let me kiss my father and my mother (1 Ki.19:20) And there are many more examples; the lamed preposition

If I had it to do over again, I would not teach לְיַד as the basic preposition 'next to, beside' in AwB lesson 6. Here's why: לְיַד occurs only 6 times in the text with a prepositional function. Of these 6, only 3 refer to a physical spatial location (1 Sam.19:3, Ps.140:6, Prov.8:3), while the other 3 refer to serving "alongside" someone in the context of assisting someone with duties (1 Chron.18:17, 23:28, Neh.11:24). From this tiny number of occurrences, it's clear that this word won't be very helpful for students who want to read the biblical text. (Moreover, the meaning of it is pretty easy to understand in context once a student is familiar with the word יָד. My use of לְיַד may have been due to unconscious influence from Modern Hebrew.) If I could do it over, I would instead teach the word אֵ֫צֶל, which also means 'beside,' and occurs over 65 times in the text. It's still not a very common word, but students will see it much more often in

The basic and most common form of the word 'why?' is לָ֫מָּה with the accent on the first syllable ['lammah] and dagesh in the mem .  Ruth 1:11 לָ֥מָּה תֵלַ֖כְנָה עִמִּ֑י However, when it occurs before a word beginning with alef, ayin  or heh , it is usually לָמָ֫ה with the accent on the second syllable [la'mah] and no dagesh in the mem . (There are some exceptions for words beginning with heh : it's not entirely consistent) Ge 27:45  לָמָ֥ה  אֶ שְׁכַּ֛ל גַּם־שְׁנֵיכֶ֖ם יֹ֥ום אֶחָֽד׃ Gen 43:6 לָמָ֥ה הֲ רֵעֹתֶ֖ם לִ֑י Judg 12:3 וְלָמָ֞ה עֲ לִיתֶ֥ם אֵלַ֛י הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה לְהִלָּ֥חֶם בִּֽי׃ Note that before words beginning with other gutturals  het and resh , it is still  לָ֫מָּה . 2 Sa 24:3 לָ֥מָּה חָ פֵ֖ץ בַּדָּבָ֥ר הַזֶּֽה׃ 1 Sa 28:12 לָ֥מָּה רִ מִּיתָ֖נִי וְאַתָּ֥ה שָׁאֽוּל׃

  What I wanted to express:  "Do you know what Zedekiah did to/for you?" The mistake I made:  אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה צִדְקִיָּהוּ לָךְ What I should have done: אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה־ לָךְ צִדְקִיָּהוּ The evidence: Short words such as lamed with pronominal suffixes usually cluster with the verb, and come right after the verb (they may have been clitics - phonologically bound to the verb). I may have been influenced by English word order in my mistake, but I corrected it to reflect the more common Hebrew order. Verses showing lamed coming right after the verb: Gen 9:24b וַיֵּ֕דַע אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־עָ֥שָׂה־ לֹ֖ו בְּנֹ֥ו הַקָּטָֽן׃ "...and he knew what his youngest son had done to him." 1 Sam 19:18b וַיַּ֨גֶּד־לֹ֔ו אֵ֛ת כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָֽשָׂה־ לֹ֖ו שָׁא֑וּל "...and he told him everything that Saul had done to him." Deut 4:34b  כְּ֠כֹל אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֨ה לָכֶ֜ם ‬ יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֛ם "...according to all that YHWH your God did for you..." Dt 25:17a זָכֹ֕ור אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה

The structure that I wanted to express:  Incorrect!!! "the man who has a son" "the man who has a daughter" "a boy who has clothes"  The mistake I made:  הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יֶשׁ־לוֹ בֵּן What I should have done:  Not include יֵשׁ, but say rather:  הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ בֵּן הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ בַּת יֶלֶד אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ בְּגָדִים The evidence:  Examples with similar syntax do not have יֵשׁ: Lev. 11:23a וְכָל שֶׁרֶץ הָעוֹף אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ אַרְבַּע רַגְלָיִם  "But all winged insects that have four legs..." Deut 4:7a מִי־גוֹי גָּדוֹל אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ אֱלֹהִים קְרֹבִים אֵלָיו "who is a great nation that has a god near to it...?" Deut 4:8a  וּמִי גּוֹי גָּדוֹל  אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ  חֻקִּים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים צַדִּיקִם "and who is a great nation that has righteous statues and rules...?" When talking about diseases/blemishes, the bet preposition is used: Lev. 21:21b  כָּל־אִישׁ  אֲשֶׁר־בּוֹ  מוּם "Every man who has a blemish..." The three examples of אֲשׁ

Guidelines for creating easy Biblical Hebrew materials We’re so thankful that you’re interested in helping with this immense and important task of creating a body of literature at different levels for Hebrew students! To start off, let me emphasize that writing good simple stories at the level of easy reading for kids is not an easy task even in your native language, much less when you’re trying it in another language. This task will definitely challenge your creativity and your Hebrew skills. You will probably not be able to dash off a story that is in easy, grammatically authentic Hebrew while also being fun and satisfying to read without significant effort. Think of your task as crafting stories that will require some creative thinking and multiple revisions before you arrive at a satisfying final product. But this task is so important to help students continue advancing in their reading comprehension of Hebrew without hitting a brick wall. It’s also very satisfying to see your comp