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Recent Articles
- Woven with Wonder: Syntax and Embodied Imagery in Job 10:11
- The Wink and the Wound: Syntax, Parallelism, and Irony in Proverbs 10:10
- The Grammar of Surprise: The Wayyiqtol Chain and Temporal Progression in Joshua 10:9
- The Birth of Power: The Grammar of Beginning and Becoming in Genesis 10:8
- Genealogical Syntax and the Grammar of Nations in Genesis 10:7
- Do Not Mourn as Others Do: Restraint and Reverence in the Aftermath of Fire
- The Blast and the Camp: Exploring Hebrew Commands and Movement in Numbers 10:5
- If You Refuse: The Threat of the Locusts in Translation
- Trumpet Blasts and Assembly Syntax in Numbers 10:3
- Right and Left: A Beginner’s Guide to Hebrew Word Order in Ecclesiastes 10:2
- A Call to Listen: A Beginner’s Guide to Hebrew Grammar in Jeremiah 10:1
- “Even If I Wash with Snow”: Job’s Cry of Purity and Futility in Hebrew
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Author Archives: Advanced Hebrew Grammar
The Voice That Slips Away: Temporal Disjunction and Emotional Tension in Song of Songs 5:6
פָּתַ֤חְתִּֽי אֲנִי֙ לְדֹודִ֔י וְדֹודִ֖י חָמַ֣ק עָבָ֑ר נַפְשִׁי֙ יָֽצְאָ֣ה בְדַבְּרֹ֔ו בִּקַּשְׁתִּ֨יהוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א מְצָאתִ֔יהוּ קְרָאתִ֖יו וְלֹ֥א עָנָֽנִי׃
Poetry of Absence
In this verse from the Song of Songs, we witness a moment of intimate longing turned to heartbreak. The beloved knocks, she hesitates, opens—and he is gone. This poetic line is not only emotionally vivid but grammatically intricate. Embedded within it lies a profound tension between completed action and emotional immediacy, conveyed through a striking interplay of perfective verbs and existential intensity.… Learn Hebrew
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Leveled and Lifted: The Binyanim That Reshape the Land in Zechariah 14:10
יִסֹּ֨וב כָּל־הָאָ֤רֶץ כָּעֲרָבָה֙ מִגֶּ֣בַע לְרִמֹּ֔ון נֶ֖גֶב יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑ם וְרָאֲמָה וְיָשְׁבָה תַחְתֶּיהָ לְמִשַּׁ֣עַר בִּנְיָמִ֗ן עַד־מְקֹ֞ום שַׁ֤עַר הָרִאשֹׁון֙ עַד־שַׁ֣עַר הַפִּנִּ֔ים וּמִגְדַּ֣ל חֲנַנְאֵ֔ל עַ֖ד יִקְבֵ֥י הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃
(Zechariah 14:10)
All the land shall be turned like the ʿAravah from Geva to Rimmon south of Yerushalayim and she shall be raised and shall dwell in her place from the Gate of Binyamin to the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate and from the Tower of Ḥananel to the winepresses of the king.
Topography by Morphology
This eschatological vision transforms the geography of Eretz Yisra’el.… Learn Hebrew
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Three Pilgrimages and the Syntax of Sacred Appearance (Deuteronomy 16:16)
שָׁלֹ֣ושׁ פְּעָמִ֣ים בַּשָּׁנָ֡ה יֵרָאֶ֨ה כָל־זְכוּרְךָ֜ אֶת־פְּנֵ֣י יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ בַּמָּקֹום֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִבְחָ֔ר בְּחַ֧ג הַמַּצֹּ֛ות וּבְחַ֥ג הַשָּׁבֻעֹ֖ות וּבְחַ֣ג הַסֻּכֹּ֑ות וְלֹ֧א יֵרָאֶ֛ה אֶת־פְּנֵ֥י יְהוָ֖ה רֵיקָֽם׃
(Deuteronomy 16:16)
Opening Structure: Temporal and Quantitative Framing
The verse opens with a cardinal number and noun phrase:
שָׁלֹ֣ושׁ פְּעָמִ֣ים בַּשָּׁנָ֡ה
“Three times in the year”
This functions as an adverbial phrase of time and frequency. The use of the construct noun פְּעָמִים (“times”) with the number שָׁלֹשׁ prefaces the action that follows, serving as a temporal scope marker for the obligation in the main clause.… Learn Hebrew
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The Syntax of Reverent Restraint: Dissecting Ecclesiastes 5:5
אַל־תִּתֵּ֤ן אֶת־פִּ֨יךָ֙ לַחֲטִ֣יא אֶת־בְּשָׂרֶ֔ךָ וְאַל־תֹּאמַר֙ לִפְנֵ֣י הַמַּלְאָ֔ךְ כִּ֥י שְׁגָגָ֖ה הִ֑יא לָ֣מָּה יִקְצֹ֤ף הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ עַל־קֹולֶ֔ךָ וְחִבֵּ֖ל אֶת־מַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יָדֶֽיךָ׃
(Ecclesiastes 5:5)
Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?
Syntax as Ethics
This verse from Ecclesiastes 5:5 offers a striking ethical imperative—do not let your speech lead to sin, and do not excuse sin before a messenger of God.… Learn Hebrew
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“Rise, Go to Perath and Hide It There”: The Grammar of Divine Symbolism in Jeremiah 13:4
קַ֧ח אֶת־הָאֵזֹ֛ור אֲשֶׁ֥ר קָנִ֖יתָ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עַל־מָתְנֶ֑יךָ וְקוּם֙ לֵ֣ךְ פְּרָ֔תָה וְטָמְנֵ֥הוּ שָׁ֖ם בִּנְקִ֥יק הַסָּֽלַע׃
(Jeremiah 13:4)
Take the waistband that you have bought, which is on your loins, and arise, go to Perath, and hide it there in the cleft of the rock.
In Yirmeyahu 13:4, the prophet is given a cryptic command: take a linen girdle, wear it, then travel far, to Perath, and hide it in the crevice of a rock. This act is not merely symbolic; it is performative prophecy, where movement, location, and concealment all carry theological weight.… Learn Hebrew
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The Warrior’s Mouth: How a Prophetic Verb Reveals Divine Vengeance as Performance
הִנְנִ֣י אֵלַ֗יִךְ נְאֻם֙ יְהוָ֣ה צְבָאֹ֔ות וְהִבְעַרְתִּ֤י בֶֽעָשָׁן֙ רִכְבָּ֔הּ וּכְפִירַ֖יִךְ תֹּ֣אכַל חָ֑רֶב וְהִכְרַתִּי מֵאֶ֨רֶץ֙ טַרְפֵּ֔ךְ וְלֹֽא־יִשָּׁמַ֥ע עֹ֖וד קֹ֥ול מַלְאָכֵֽכֵה׃
(Nahum 2:13)
”Behold, I am against you,” declares YHWH of hosts, “and I will burn her chariot in smoke; and your young lions shall be devoured by the sword; and I will cut off your prey from the land, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.”
In the fiery oracles of prophecy, language does not merely describe events — it enacts them.… Learn Hebrew
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“A Report We Have Heard from the Lord”: The Grammar of Divine Decree in Obadiah 1:4
חֲזֹ֖ון עֹֽבַדְיָ֑ה כֹּֽה־אָמַר֩ אֲדֹנָ֨י יְהוִ֜ה לֶאֱדֹ֗ום שְׁמוּעָ֨ה שָׁמַ֜עְנוּ מֵאֵ֤ת יְהוָה֙ וְצִיר֙ בַּגֹּויִ֣ם שֻׁלָּ֔ח ק֛וּמוּ וְנָק֥וּמָה עָלֶ֖יהָ לַמִּלְחָמָֽה׃
(Obadiah 1:4)
The vision of Obadiah: Thus said my Lord YHWH concerning Edom, “We have heard a report from YHWH, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: ‘Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle.’
In this verse from Obadiah 1:4, we find a prophetic announcement that begins with divine revelation and ends with human mobilization. The prophet speaks on behalf of God, delivering a message not only to Edom but through it — as if the nations themselves are being summoned to war by a decree they did not hear but must obey.… Learn Hebrew
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Tanakh : Hebrew Bible Project
Tanakh Hebrew Bible Project is a Polyglot Online Bible that contains the Hebrew Bible and its ancient versions in parallel – Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, Targum Onkelos, Samaritan Targum, Syriac Peshitta, Septuagint, Old Latin, and Latin Vulgate, and also the Greek versions of Aquila of Sinope, Theodotion, and Symmachus the Ebionite.
Tanakh : Hebrew Bible Project aims at producing:
A new critical text of the Hebrew Bible that is as close as possible to the original text.
A new English translation for the Hebrew Bible and its ancient versions (Septuagint, Peshitta, Targums, Vetus Latina, and Vulgate).… Learn Hebrew
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Hebrew Verbs Occuring 500 – 5000 Times
The chief difficulty to overcome in the mastery of Hebrew language is the acquisition of a vocabulary. Out of the 7,000 vocables in the Hebrew language, about 1,000 occur over 25 times. The following are the list of verbs which occur most frequently in the Hebrew Bible.
(1) אָכַל (Eat)
(2) אָמַר (Say)
(3) בּוֹא (Go in)
(4) דָּבַר (Speak)
(5) הָיָה (Be)
(6) הָלַךְ (Walk)
(7) ידַָע (Know)
(8) יָלַד (Bring forth)
(9) יָצָא (Go out)
(1o) יָשַׁב (Sit, dwell)
(11) לָקַח (Take)
(12) מוּת (Die)
(13) נָשָׂא (Lift up)
(14) נָתַן (Give)
(15) עָבַר (Pass over)
(16) עָלָה (Go up)
(17) עָשָׂה (Do, make)
(18) צָוָה (Command)
(19) קֹום (Rise, stand)
(20) קָרָא (Call, meet)… Learn Hebrew
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אב
אב (‘âb):
(1) father of an individual
(2) of God as father of his people
(3) head or founder of a household, group, family, or clan
(4) ancestor
(a) grandfather, forefathers – of person
(b) of people
(5) originator or patron of a class, profession, or art
(6) of producer, generator (figuratively)
(7) of benevolence and protection (figuratively)
(8) term of respect and honour
(9) ruler or chief (specifically)
Part of Speech: noun masculine
Latin: pater, parens, progenitor
Genesis 4:20
וַתֵּלֶד עָדָה אֶת־יָבָל הוּא הָיָה אֲבִי יֹשֵׁב אֹהֶל וּמִקְנֶֽה׃
Gen 4:20 (KJV)
And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.… Learn Hebrew
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Tagged Gen 26:3, Gen 27:19, Gen 31:9, Gen 4:20, Gen 48:21, Gen 9:23, Genesis 26:3, Genesis 27:19, Genesis 31:9, Genesis 4:20, Genesis 48:21, Num 1:2, Numbers 1:2, אב, אֲבִי, אֲבִיהֶם, אָבִיו, אֲבִיכֶם, אֲבֹתֵיכֶֽם, אֲבֹתָם
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