To learn to read and to understand the words of Scripture
Biblical Hebrew Grammar
וְאִם־לֹא֩ תַשִּׂ֨יג יָדֹ֜ו לִשְׁתֵּ֣י תֹרִ֗ים אֹו֮ לִשְׁנֵ֣י בְנֵי־יֹונָה֒ וְהֵבִ֨יא אֶת־קָרְבָּנֹ֜ו אֲשֶׁ֣ר חָטָ֗א עֲשִׂירִ֧ת הָאֵפָ֛ה סֹ֖לֶת לְחַטָּ֑את לֹא־יָשִׂ֨ים עָלֶ֜יהָ שֶׁ֗מֶן וְלֹא־יִתֵּ֤ן עָלֶ֨יהָ֙ לְבֹנָ֔ה כִּ֥י חַטָּ֖את הִֽיא׃ In the priestly code of Leviticus, where ritual precision often dominates the narrative, we find in Vayiqra 5:11 a verse that breathes with ethical nuance. It speaks not only to…
וַֽיְחִי־לֶ֕מֶךְ שְׁתַּ֧יִם וּשְׁמֹנִ֛ים שָׁנָ֖ה וּמְאַ֣ת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיֹּ֖ולֶד בֵּֽן׃ (Genesis 5:28) And Lemekh lived two and eighty years and one hundred years and he fathered a son When Numbers Tell a Story In Genesis 5:28, we encounter a striking numerical expression describing the age of Lemekh when he fathered a son. But this is no simple…
וַיִּהְיוּ֙ כָּל־יְמֵ֣י מְתוּשֶׁ֔לַח תֵּ֤שַׁע וְשִׁשִּׁים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּתְשַׁ֥ע מֵאֹ֖ות שָׁנָ֑ה וַיָּמֹֽת׃ (Genesis 5:27) And all the days of Metushelaḥ were nine and sixty years and nine hundred years, and he died. Rhythm of Life and Death This verse from the genealogical record of Genesis presents not only the remarkable lifespan of Metushelaḥ (Methuselah), but also a…
כִּ֣י מִ֣י כָל־בָּשָׂ֡ר אֲשֶׁ֣ר שָׁמַ֣ע קֹול֩ אֱלֹהִ֨ים חַיִּ֜ים מְדַבֵּ֧ר מִתֹּוךְ־הָאֵ֛שׁ כָּמֹ֖נוּ וַיֶּֽחִי׃ The Cry of the Awestruck Deuteronomy 5:26 captures the trembling voice of Israel as they recall standing at Sinai, hearing the living voice of God emerging from fire. The verse is cast as a rhetorical question — not seeking information but expressing astonishment.…
עֲוֹנֹותֵיכֶ֖ם הִטּוּ־אֵ֑לֶּה וְחַטֹּ֣אותֵיכֶ֔ם מָנְע֥וּ הַטֹּ֖וב מִכֶּֽם׃ When Sin Becomes Subject Jeremiah 5:25 offers a stunning reversal: it is not divine reluctance, political failure, or cosmic delay that withholds good from Israel — it is their own sin. The verse speaks with syntactic clarity and poetic symmetry. Two lines, two clauses, two fronted possessive nouns, two…
וַיִּתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ חֲנֹ֖וךְ אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים וְאֵינֶ֕נּוּ כִּֽי־לָקַ֥ח אֹתֹ֖ו אֱלֹהִֽים׃ “And Ḥanokh walked with God, and he was no more, for God took him.” Genesis 5:24 is one of the most enigmatic and theologically rich verses in the genealogies of Genesis. It describes the fate of Ḥanokh (Enoch) not with the typical death formula—“and he died”—but with poetic…
Opening the Ritual Scroll Numbers 5:23 comes from the strange and solemn ritual of the sotah—the woman suspected of adultery. This particular verse captures the moment when the priest takes the written curses and dissolves them into bitter water. The Hebrew is terse, sequential, and physical. The grammar moves in a straight ritual line: writing,…
הַאֹותִ֨י לֹא־תִירָ֜אוּ נְאֻם־יְהֹוָ֗ה אִ֤ם מִפָּנַי֙ לֹ֣א תָחִ֔ילוּ אֲשֶׁר־שַׂ֤מְתִּי חֹול֙ גְּב֣וּל לַיָּ֔ם חָק־עֹולָ֖ם וְלֹ֣א יַעַבְרֶ֑נְהוּ וַיִּֽתְגָּעֲשׁוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א יוּכָ֔לוּ וְהָמ֥וּ גַלָּ֖יו וְלֹ֥א יַעַבְרֻֽנְהוּ׃ (Jeremiah 5:22) ‘Will you not fear Me?’ says YHWH. ‘Will you not tremble before Me, who placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, an eternal statute, and it cannot pass over it?…
כִּ֤י נֹ֨כַח עֵינֵ֣י יְ֭הוָה דַּרְכֵי־אִ֑ישׁ וְֽכָל־מַעְגְּלֹתָ֥יו מְפַלֵּֽס׃ Opening the Gaze Proverbs 5:21 offers no command, no advice, no metaphor. It simply states a fact — that a man’s paths lie exposed before the eyes of YHWH. Yet even this simple truth is shaped with careful grammatical artistry. The Hebrew opens not with a subject or…
Introduction to Isaiah 5:20 This verse forms part of a series of woe oracles in Isaiah 5 that denounce moral perversion and societal corruption. It presents a poetic and rhetorical list of accusations against those who invert moral categories. The verse features antithetical parallelism, where one concept is juxtaposed with its opposite, and also displays…