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Lesson 2Learning the Aleph BetIn this lesson, you will learn the 22 consonants of theHebrew alphabet—block letters that are, and were,enough to write Hebrew under most circumstances.It’s called the aleph bet because aleph is the first letterof the Hebrew alphabet and bet is the second letter.Similarly, in English it’s called the “alphabet” because“alpha,” the first letter of the Greek alphabet, isfollowed by “beta.” It’s important to learn the Hebrewalphabet in alphabetical order not only to be ableto find words in the dictionary, but also to be ableto count.6Biblical Hebrew

GRAMMARThe Hebrew AlphabetLETTERSOUNDNAME א [silent]aleph בּ b ב vSOUNDNAME ל llamed מם mmem נן nnun ג ggimmel ס ssamekh ד ddalet ע [silent] ה hhey פּ p ו vvav פף f ז zzayin צץ tstsade ח khhet ק kkof ט ttet ר rresh י yyud שׁ sh כּךּ k שׂ s כך kh ת tbetkafLETTERayinpeyshintavLesson 2 ö Learning the Aleph Bet7

ww The letters kh indicate a guttural sound like the ch in the name ofJ. S. Bach or Loch Ness.ww Five letters— כ , מ , נ , פ and —צ are written differently when theyoccur at the end of a word. The second letter in the chart is thefinal form.ww Letters with dagesh are given in the chart only when dagesh changes thesound of the letter in modern pronunciation. So, כ , ב , and פ appeartwice in the chart, once with dagesh and once without.ww שׁ and שׂ are two different consonants written with a single symbol in thealphabet; dictionaries of biblical Hebrew group words beginning withthese letters in two separate sections. Several other letters in the alphabetrepresent more than one original consonant, but the writing system didnot preserve these distinctions.Vocabulary8 אֶחָד one בָּבֶל Babylon עֶ֫בֶד slave בֹּ֫קֶר morning עֶ֫רֶ ב evening זָהָב goldBiblical Hebrew יֹום day

ACTIVITIESQuestionsww What effect did the development of the alphabet have on humancivilization?ww How did our English alphabet develop from the original one? Howis it similar to and different from the Hebrew alphabet? What otheralphabets currently in use are related to these alphabets?ww Which letters have separate forms used always and only at the endof a word?ww What do you recognize in Gen. 1:5? וַיִּקְרָ ֨א אֱֹלהִ֤ים ׀ ל ָאֹור֙ יֹ֔ום וְל ַחֹ֖שְֶׁך קָ ֣רָ א לָ֑יְל ָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶ ב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר יֹ֥ום אֶחָ ֽד׃ Practiceww Try to memorize the Hebrew of Gen 1:5b.ww Practice singing or reciting the Hebrew alphabet in alphabetical order.CHALLENGEww Find every consonant in the Hebrew alphabet—includingand all 5 final forms—in the text of Numbers 22. ׁש and ׂש ww While you are searching, look for the etnaḥta in every verse.The solution is provided on PAGE 151 .Lesson 2 ö Learning the Aleph Bet9

Lesson 3The TiberianVowel SystemIn Hebrew, the letters ה , ו , and י were, and are, usednot only as consonants (h, v, and y, respectively) butalso to hint at vowel sounds. But toward the end of the1st millennium CE—11 or 12 centuries ago, probablyas a response to what Muslims were doing with theKoran—Jews began to develop various systems tomark the vowels explicitly. One of these systems, theTiberian system, established itself and has been usedexclusively for the last thousand years or so. You willlearn the Tiberian vowel marks in this lesson.10Biblical Hebrew

GRAMMARConsonants That Sound AlikeThe consonants in this table arepronounced (or not pronounced)alike by almost all speakers of Hebrewtoday. In biblical times, they all haddistinctive, different pronunciations,so speakers and writers would notconfuse them. Note the presence orabsence of dagesh in ב and כ , whichchanges their sound. Using כ ratherthan כּ does not change the meaningof a word; using כּ rather than ק doeschange the meaning of a word.CONTEMPORARYPRONUNCIATION ע , א ו , ב [silent]v כ , ח kh [as in J. S. Bachor Loch Ness] ת , ט t ק , כּ k שׂ , ס sVowelsAll vowels are printed here under (or after) silent א but may occur withany consonant.VOWELLONGSHORTULTRASHORTְ א shevaA (ah) אָ qamatz (ah) אַ pataḥ (ah)ֲ א ḥataf-pataḥ (ah)I (ee)ֵ א tsere (ey)ִ א ֱ א ḥataf-seghol (eh) אֵי tsere-yud (ey)ֶ א seghol (eh) אִי ḥireq (ih)ḥireq-yudLesson 3 ö The Tiberian Vowel System11

VOWELLONGSHORTULTRASHORTU (oo) אוּ shuruq (oo)ֻ א qubbutz (oo)ֳ א אֹו ḥolem (oh) אָ qamatz qatanֹ א ḥolem ḥaserwwḥataf-qamatz (oh)(oh)(oh)ְ א sheva is pronounced like the first a of “Maria” or the first eof “Jerusalem.”wwְ א sheva is also used (unpronounced) to mark the end of a syllable.ww In the suffixesis silent.(as in )אֱֹלהָיו and(as in )אֱֹלהֶיָך , the י The Dageshww The dagesh indicates a doubled, or lengthened,consonant, for grammatical or etymological reasons.For example: 12Another consonant (most often a )נ has assimilated to theconsonant with the dagesh.The binyanim Piel, Pu’al, and Hitpa’el are characterized by doublingof the second radical.Geminate roots, where the second and third radicals are the same,sometimes display that letter only once but with a dagesh.Biblical Hebrew

ww Dagesh can not appear in the gutturals ע , ח , ה , א , or in ;ר whenit should appear in one of those letters, the previous vowel is oftenlengthened to compensate (more commonly with א or )ר .ww Dagesh appears, not for grammatical or etymological reasons, in theletters ( בגד כפת the beged-kefet letters) when they are not precededby a vowel. This is called dagesh lene or dagesh qal (i.e., an insignificantdagesh). When a beged-kefet letter has a dagesh and is preceded by avowel, it should be considered doubled/lengthened. This is calleddagesh forte or dagesh ḥazaq (i.e., a grammatically or etymologicallysignificant dagesh).ww Either kind of dagesh will change the sound of the letters כ , ב , and פ (see the Hebrew Alphabet chart on PAGE 7). The change in sound doesnot alter the meaning of the word.ww The dot in ( הּ only in final position in the word with no followingvowel) is not a dagesh (which cannot appear in )ה . This dot is calledmappiq (from an Aramaic word meaning that it “brings out” thesound of the ;)ה it indicates that this is an “original” (consonantal) ה , unlike the ה of 3rd-H roots, which replaces an original י or ו . It issometimes a genuine root letter but more often indicates a 3rd femininesingular suffix.ww The dot in a shuruq [as in the word ]קוּם is also not a dagesh but simplya mark indicating the vowel. Confusingly, a consonantal ו can have adagesh, as in the Piel verb “( צִוּ ָה he commanded”). Note that in קוּם ,the וּ is sandwiched in between two consonants and therefore must be avowel; in צִוּ ָה , the וּ is sandwiched in between two vowels and thereforemust be a consonant.Lesson 3 ö The Tiberian Vowel System13

Vocabulary בֶּ֫ג ֶד כֹּל ל ָיְל ָה ֫ סֵ֫פֶר פֶּה קָרָ א garment, article of clothingallnightbook, document, scrollmouthhe calledACTIVITIESQuestionsww What are the three different groupings of vowel sounds in Hebrew?Which Hebrew consonants can be used to represent each group?ww What are the two different functions of the sheva?ww What are the two different functions of the dagesh?ww What are the six beged-kefet letters?14Biblical Hebrew

ASSIGNMENTww Read the following names of biblical places and characters and identifythem in English: צִיֹּון יַעֲקֹב אַבְרָ ם רְ אוּבֵן ִישְׁמָעֵאל אָדָ ם רָ חֵל ִישְׂרָ אֵל דָּ ו ִד שִׁמְעֹון ל ֵאָה י ְהוּדָ ה שָׂרָ ה משֶֹׁה ִיצְחָק תָּמָר עֵשָׂו י ְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ים CHALLENGEww Find every example of the expression     וַיֹּ ֫אמֶר    אֶל (“Someone said to someone else”) in Numbers 22.ww While you are searching, see how many examples you can find ofphrases of the zaqef qaton mark that often ends a biblical phrase.Solutions are provided on PAGE 154.Lesson 3 ö The Tiberian Vowel System15

Lesson 4Roots of Semitic VerbsEvery verb, and almost every noun and adjective,in Hebrew can be thought of as being based on agroup of three consonants, which themselves are nota word but represent an idea. The three consonants,as a group, are called a root. It’s a concept that theEnglish language doesn’t really have. In Hebrew, youcan replace those three root letters—or radicals, fromthe Latin word radix, meaning “root”—in manywords with a different set of three to get a word thatworks the same way in the language. The root, in theabstract, has a basic meaning, and the pattern that youplug each root into also retains its basic meaning.16Biblical Hebrew

GRAMMARVocabulary אָדֹון lord, sir אֵל God אֶל to יהוה the Tetragrammaton, personal name ofthe Israelite God, pronounced adonai מֶ֫ל ְֶך king מָל ְַך he reigned שַׁדַּ י Shadai, AlmightyACTIVITIESQuestionsww How is the idea of roots similar to or different from the way Englishoperates?ww What might the different names for God and the way they are used inthe Bible indicate?Lesson 4 ö Roots of Semitic Verbs17

ASSIGNMENTww Determine the triliteral (three-letter) root of the related words ineach column: מְלַמֵּד וַיִּשְׁמֹר וַיֹּ ֫אמֶר לִמַּדְ תִּי וּלְשָׁמְרָ הּ ל ֵאמֹר ִילְמְדוּן מִשְׁמַרְ תִּי אִמְרֵ יכֶם לְלַמֵּד הִשָּׁמֶר אָמְרָ ה תְּלַמְּדֵ ם וּשְׁמַרְ תֶּם הָאֹמְרִ ים מְלֻמְּדֵ י שְׁמֻרֹות הֶאֱמִ ֽירְ ָך CHALLENGEww Find five examples in Numbers 22 of אֱֹלהִים and five of theTetragrammaton.Solutions are provided on PAGE 157.18Biblical Hebrew

Lesson 5Hebrew Verb Formsand the Definite ArticleThis lesson includes a major overview of verbs.There are five different verb forms in biblicalHebrew: two finite verbs, verbs that point to thetime something happened, the perfect (1) and theimperfect (2); an infinitive (3), the verbal noun; aparticiple (4), the verbal adjective; and the imperative(5), the command form. Every verb in Hebrew can bedescribed in this way: What is the root? What is theform? And, if it’s perfect or imperfect, what is the PGN(person, gender, and number)? This lesson is also thefirst of two lessons discussing Hebrew words that arespelled with a single letter and must be attached to thefront of another word. In this lesson, you will learnabout the definite article, “the,” and the conjunctionthat usually means “and” but can also mean “or”or “but.”Lesson 5 ö Hebrew Verb Forms and the Definite Article19

GRAMMARThe Definite Articleww The Hebrew definite article, comparable to the English word “the,”consists of the syllable ַ ה attached to the beginning of a word dageshin the first letter of the word it is attached to. Example: “ מֶ֫ל ְֶך king”; “ הַמֶּ֫ל ְֶך the king.”ww If there is a sheva under the first letter of the word, the dageshsometimes drops. Example: “ הַיֶּ֫ל ֶד the child”; “ הַיְל ָדִ ים the children.”ww If the first syllable of the word is unaccented ָ ה or ָ ע , or if it is ָ ( ח withor without accent), the definite article is the syllable ֶ ה with no dagesh. Example: “ עָרִ ים cities”; “ הֶעָרִ ים the cities.”ww Otherwise, when the first letter of the word is a guttural ה , ע , ח , or a ר , and hence cannot take a dagesh: with א , ע , or ר , the previous vowel is usually lengthened frompataḥ to qamatz in order to compensate. Example: “ אִישׁ man”; “ הָאִישׁ the man.”with ח or ה , the dagesh is usually dropped. 20 א ,Example: “ חַיּ ָה an animal”; “ הַחַיּ ָה the animal.”Biblical Hebrew

ww In certain words, the first vowel of the word changes from pataḥ toqamatz. Note also the unusual but extremely common “ אֶ֫רֶ ץ a land”; “ הָאָ֫רֶ ץ the land.”ww When the definite article is preceded by attached prepositions כ , ב ,or ל , the preposition simply replaces the ה of the definite article. Examples: ְך ֶ “ הַמֶּ֫ל the king”; ְ “ לַמֶּ֫לְֶך to the king.” “ הֶעָרִ ים the cities”; “ בֶּעָרִ ים in the cities.”Vocabulary אֶ֫רֶ ץ earth, land בָּרָ א create [used only of God]* חֹ֫שְֶׁך darkness שֹׁפֵט judge [form of verb ]שָׁפַט שָׁמִַ֫ים sky, heaven* F rom this point forward, the vocabulary will give verbs in their dictionaryform—the 3 m. s. perfect—but will not translate that specific form. Here, בָּרָ א really means “he created,” but it is translated in the vocabulary more generallyas “create.”Lesson 5 ö Hebrew Verb Forms and the Definite Article21

ACTIVITIESQuestionsww What do “1st person,” “2nd person,” and “3rd person” describe?ww What is the difference between the perfect and the convertedimperfect, which both describe completed action in the past?ww What English prefixes can you think of that carry meaning but cannever exist as a separate word?ASSIGNMENTww In Genesis 1:1–5, which examples of the letter ה are the definitearticle, and which are not?CHALLENGEww Find five examples in Numbers 22 of the conjunction ו , five of thedefinite article ה , and five of the definite direct object marker אֵת or אֶת .Solutions are provided on PAGE 159.22Biblical Hebrew

Lesson 6Hebrew’s AttachedPrepositionsIn the previous lesson, you learned two words thatwere single letters attached to the beginning of otherwords. This lesson will explore three more letters thatwork the same way in Hebrew. All three have a shevaunderneath them when they’re attached, and all threeare prepositions—words such as “in,” “by,” or “for”that take a noun or pronoun and relate it to somethingelse that’s going on in the sentence. The three proclitic,or attached, prepositions you will learn about are ב , כ ,and ל , which mean “in” or “at,” “like” or “as,” and “to”or “for,” respectively. You will also learn about a veryimportant preposition that is sometimes a separateword and sometimes proclitic: מִן , or “from.”Lesson 6 ö Hebrew’s Attached Prepositions23

GRAMMARVocabulary מִן from מִצְרַ ִ֫ים Egypt עַל on, upon, about פָּנ ִים face, surface רֹאשׁ head רֵ אשִׁית beginningַ ר֫וּח wind, spirit תָּ֫ו ְֶך middle תַּ֫חַת under, beneath, instead of–ְ בּ in, at בְּתֹוְך in the middle of–ְ כּ like, as–ְ ל to, for לִפְנ ֵי before בֵּין between טֹוב good י ְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ים Jerusalem* כִּי because, when, that מִַ֫ים water* O nly five times in the Bible with a second ;י ordinarily in the Bible it is spelledwith a furtive ḥireq.24Biblical Hebrew

ACTIVITIESQuestionsww What similarities and differences can you see between the way soundsare combined and elided in Hebrew and the way sounds are combinedand elided in English?ww Does written English have any words that attach directly to thebeginning of another word? What about spoken English?Practiceww Work carefully through Gen. 1:1–5 on your own and begin tomemorize it.ASSIGNMENTww Which of the following words begins with the preposition ?מִן מִַ֫ים מְל ַאכְתֹּו מִכָּל מִתַּ֫חַת מַבְדִּ יל מְרַ חֶ֫פֶת מִקְו ֵה מָקֹום מֵעַל מְאֹד מְאֹרֹת ַ מַז ְרִ ֫יע מֵעֵ֫דֶ ן מַרְ אֶה מִקֶּ֫דֶ ם Lesson 6 ö Hebrew’s Attached Prepositions25

CHALLENGEww Find examples in Numbers 22 of each of the four prepositions youlearned in this lesson: –ְ ל , –ְ כּ , –ְ בּ , and —מִן both attached andunattached.Solutions are provided on PAGE 160.26Biblical Hebrew

Lesson 7Adjective Forms andAgreement in HebrewUnlike in English, where adjectives have one form,Hebrew adjectives have four forms. In this lesson,you will learn the four forms of adjectives: טֹוב , masculinesingular; טֹובָה , feminine singular; טֹבִים , masculine plural;and טֹבֹת , feminine plural. (When you have a mixedgroup, you use the masculine plural.) The masculinesingular form—what grammarians call the unmarkedform because it doesn’t have any endings—is thedictionary form. The gender (masculine or feminine) andnumber (singular or plural) of the adjective always haveto match, or agree with, the gender and number of thenoun. You will also learn the two different ways you canput nouns and adjectives together: as a predicate, wherethe adjective explains the noun, in a complete sentence;and as an attributive phrase, where the adjective modifiesthe noun, in a phrase. In both cases, the Hebrewadjective always has to match the gender and the numberof the noun. For an attributive adjective, it also has tomatch whether the noun is definite or not.Lesson 7 ö Adjective Forms and Agreement in Hebrew27

GRAMMAREndings for Nouns and Adjectives טֹוב masculine singular טֹובָה feminine singular טֹבִים masculine plural טֹבֹת feminine pluralww Whether vowels are spelled with the letters ו and י is generally notpredictable; don’t count on seeing them.ww Nouns generally follow the pattern in this chart, but the indicators forgender are not always reliable for nouns as they are for adjectives.ww Nouns with dual endings take plural adjectives.Vocabulary בֵּן son עָשָׂה גּ ָדֹול big קָדֹושׁ כֹּוכָב star קָטֹן מְאֹד very רָ אָה עֵץ 28Biblical Hebrewwood, treedo, makeholysmallsee

ACTIVITIESQuestionww How is the use of gender in Hebrew different than in English?Practiceww Make sure you can distinguish between the predicate adjective in acomplete sentence (“the girl is smart”) and the attributive adjective in aphrase (“the smart girl”), and make sure you understand how Hebrewtreats them differently.ASSIGNMENTww Give the gender and number of each of the following adjectives: עֲרוּמִּים רָ ע חַיּ ָה צַדִּ יק רַ בָּה טֹבֹת אֲחֵרִ ים גְּבֹהִים טְהֹורָ ה עֲקָרָ ה גְּדֹל ָה טָהֹר רַ בֹּות רִ אשֹׁנ ָה כָּבֵד Lesson 7 ö Adjective Forms and Agreement in Hebrew29

CHALLENGEww Find all the adjectives you can in Numbers 22—masculine singular,feminine singular, and masculine plural (there are no feminine pluraladjectives in this chapter).Solutions are provided on PAGE 161 .30Biblical Hebrew

Lesson 8Irregular HebrewNouns and AdjectivesIn Hebrew, the endings of nouns can be surprising,and sometimes the shape of the noun becomesvery different when moving from singular to plural.The longer and more complicated nouns won’t causeyou any problems; they tend to be very regular andobvious. It’s the simpler and more common nouns thatare more likely to surprise you; you might not be ableto recognize them without learning and memorizingthem. In this lesson, you will be introduced to anumber of the most common, nonobvious nounsin Hebrew—the irregular nouns. Then, you willexplore the only irregular adjectives in Hebrew,the demonstrative adjectives, which are the neardeterminatives, “this” ( ז ֶה or )זֹאת and “these” ( ;)אֵ֫לּ ֶה and the far determinatives, “that” ( הוּא or )הִיא and“those” ( )הֵם .Lesson 8 ö Irregul

In this lesson, you will learn the 22 consonants of the Hebrew alphabet—block letters that are, and were, enough to write Hebrew under most circumstances. It’s called the aleph bet because aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and bet is the second letter. Similarly, in En