02.24. PART 3 REFERENCE GUIDE

Part 3

Reference Guide ______________________________________________ The purpose of the Reference Guide is to be an aid to the Hebrew student to assist with recognzing the prefixes and suffixes of Hebrew nouns and verbs.

Uncovering the root word

One Hebrew word may contain a root, one or two prefixes as well as one or two suffixes. As an example, let us look at the word ~er.B;d.y;w. To find the root word, we first identify the prefixes and suffixes. The prefix w means "and." The y is another prefix identifying the subject of the verb as a "he." The suffix ~ identifies the object of the verb as "them." Once the suffix and prefixes are removed we have the root rbd, meaning "speak," remaining. The Hebrew word ~er.B;d.y;w, means "and he spoke to them."

Identification of the prefixes and suffixes of a verb will assist you in translating each word correctly. This will also allow you to uncover the root of the word, which can then be looked up in the root dictionary below.

Prefixes - The article, conjunction and prepositions

Some of the most common words found in the Bible are actually written as prefixes, such as b (in), w (and), h (the) and l (to). The two prefixes k (like) and X (which) are also used but occur infrequently. Combining a prefix with a suffix also forms words. For example, the word $l is the prefix l meaning "to" and the suffix $ meaning "you" (see possessive pronouns below) forming a word meaning "to you."

Prefixes The --h And --w To --l In --b From --m Like --k Which, who --X

Plural

Nouns are made plural by adding the following suffixes. There are a few exceptions to these gender specific suffixes. For example ba (father) and rwa (light) are masculine words yet carry the feminine suffix, twba and twrwa, but still remain masculine.

Plural Suffixes Masculine Feminine ~y-- tw-- Noun derivatives

Included in this section is a list of the most common prefixes, infixes and suffixes added to a root to form a new noun. Each noun derivitive will be related in meaning to the original root word. By recognizing these "fixes," one can easily uncover the original root word assisting the reader with identifying the meaning of the word. For example, the words qydc and hqdc are derived from the root qdc (righteous). The word qydc is formed by infixing the letter y and has the meaning of "a righteous one." The word hqdc is formed by suffixing the letter h and has the meaning of "righteousness."

Noun Derivitives --m m-- -y-- --t t-- -A-- h-- tA-- !A-- ty--

Pronouns The following pronouns are very common and a good understanding of them will assist the student in reading the text.

Pronouns Singular Plural

Masculine

I     yin]a             We     Wn]a

You      h’T;a             You      ~,T;a

He     aWh             They     ~eh

Feminine

I     yin]a             We     Wn]a

You     .T;a             You      !,T;a

Sheayih They !eh Possessive Pronouns (Nouns) Singular Plural

Masculine My yI-- Our Wn-- Your ^-- Your ~,k-- His A-- Their ~,--

Feminine My yI-- Our Wn-- Your %-- Your !,k--

Her     h"--             Their     !<--

Hebrew Tenses

Hebrew verb tenses are not related to time (past, present or future), as in English, but to action. There are two Hebrew tenses, perfect and imperfect. The perfect tense is complete action and is similar to past tense. The imperfect tense is incomplete action (action that has started but not finished or action that has not started) and is similar to our present and future tense.

Each verb will also identify the person, gender and number of the subject of the verb. The person is expressed as first, second or third person, the gender will be either masculine or feminine and the number will be singular or plural.

Using the Hebrew root word rmX (to guard), the letter a is prefixed to form the verb rmXa. The addition of this letter indicates that the verb is first person, masculine, singular and imperfect tense - "I am guarding" or "I will guard." By suffixing the letters yt, the verb ytrmX is formed, and is first person, masculine, singular, perfect tense - "I guarded." When the conjuction w (meaning "and") is prefixed to a verb, the tense is reversed. While rmXa means "I will guard" (imperfect tense), rmXaw becomes "I guarded" (perfect tense). While ytrmX means "I gaurded" (perfect tense), ytrmXw becomes "I will guard" (imperfect tense).

Verb Subjects (Perfect Tense) Singular Plural

Masculine I yit-- We Wn--

You ’t-- You ~,t-- He -- They W--

Feminine I y-- We Wn-- You .t-- You !,t-- She h"-- They W-- Verb Subjects (Imperfect Tense) Singular Plural

Masculine I --a We --n You --t You W--t He --y TheyW--y

Feminine I--a We --n You y--t You hn--t She --t They hn--t