Category Archives: Grammar

Biblical Hebrew wields repetition and wordplay not merely for style, but to amplify theological gravity, poetic beauty, and oral resonance. Lexical and syntactic repetitions—such as in Ecclesiastes’ refrain הֶבֶל הֲבָלִים—hammer home existential themes, while alliteration and assonance (e.g., Psalm 122:6) cast prayer in melodic texture. Paronomasia, as in Jeremiah’s שָׁקֵד / שֹׁקֵד, unveils divine irony and semantic layering, and root repetition (e.g., ר־א־ה / ר־ע) threads narrative grief with prophetic clarity. These devices forge auditory cohesion and theological depth, allowing Scripture to speak through echo, pun, and poetic cadence.… Learn Hebrew

Acrostic structures in Biblical Hebrew poetry transform the alphabet into an expressive theological framework, where each letter—from א to ת—serves as a gateway into reflection, lament, praise, or wisdom. Psalm 119 exemplifies this artistry, offering 22 stanzas of 8 verses each, all beginning with the same letter and referencing Torah through eight recurring synonyms. Acrostics function as mnemonic aids, symbols of completeness, and literary devices that underscore divine order. Their use across genres—from Psalms to Lamentations and Proverbs—reveals a poetic intentionality that elevates form into spiritual architecture, making even the alphabet an instrument of covenantal devotion.… Learn Hebrew

Irregular plural forms in Biblical Hebrew—such as אָבוֹת for “fathers” and אֲנָשִׁים for “men”—reflect ancient linguistic conservatism and theological depth. These plurals often diverge from standard masculine (-ִים) or feminine (-וֹת) patterns due to historical Semitic morphology, vowel shifts, or suppletion. Kinship terms, collective nouns, abstract concepts, and certain numerals preserve archaic or fossilized patterns that enrich poetic meter and covenantal meaning. Despite their morphological irregularity, they follow normal syntactic agreement and often carry enhanced lexical weight—elevating “ancestors” beyond mere biological reference and embedding theological resonance within grammatical form.… Learn Hebrew

The dual form in Biblical Hebrew is a morphologically distinct number category, marked by the suffix -ַיִם in absolute state and -ֵי in construct, used primarily for natural pairs like body parts (e.g., עֵינַיִם “two eyes”) and time expressions (e.g., יוֹמַיִם “two days”). Though historically more productive, its use became limited and fossilized, with certain lexical items retaining dual morphology but functioning as plurals (e.g., שָׁמַיִם “heavens”). Verbs and pronouns agree with dual nouns using regular plural forms, and construct syntax behaves like plural constructs.… Learn Hebrew

Biblical Hebrew enforces gender and number agreement across verbs, adjectives, pronouns, and participles, requiring morphological alignment with the grammatical identity of the noun—be it masculine, feminine, singular, plural, or dual. Verb forms like אָמַר (he said) versus אָמְרָה (she said), and adjective pairs such as טוֹב vs. טוֹבָה reflect this coordination. Special cases, such as feminine inanimates taking masculine verbs or God’s plural form אֱלֹהִים paired with singular verbs, underscore theological or poetic emphasis. Collective and mixed-gender nouns typically default to masculine plural, while participles mirror their subject’s features.… Learn Hebrew