Lesson 3 – Genesis 1:3 rAa-yih.y;w rAa yih.y ~yih{l/a r,ma{Y;w rmayw The first letter w is the prefix meaning "and." The root word is rma.
Hebrew root words can be used as a noun or a verb. As a noun this root would mean a "word" while as a verb it means, "to say." We see a similar occurrence in English as in the sentence; "He will play Moses in the play." The first use of the word "play" is a verb while the second is a noun. The context of the sentence as well as the type of prefixes and suffixes added to the word will tell you if the word is a verb or a noun. When the letter y is added to the root rma, the word is identified as a verb and can literally be translated as "he says" or "he will say" (masculine, singular, perfect tense). When the letter vav is prefixed to a verb, the tense of the verb is reversed. Therefore, the word rmay is "he says" (masculine, singular, imperfect tense) while the word rmayw is "he said" (masculine, singular, perfect tense). This vav, when used in this instance, is called the "vav consecutive."
~yhla This word has been discussed previously and is the subject of the previous verb. yhy The root of this word is hyh as discussed previously meaning, "to exist." When the letter y is prefixed to the root, the word hyhy (masculine, singular, imperfect tense) is formed, meaning, "he exists." When a root ends with a h, it is often dropped when used as a verb. Hence, hyhy becomes yhy. Another letter that frequently drops off a root when used as a verb is the letter n when it is the first letter of the root. All verb roots consist of three letters. If you come across a verb and remove the prefixes and suffixes and find only two letters remaining, most likely the verb has dropped the final h or the beginning n. For example, in Genesis 17:3 we find the word loPiy;w. The letter w is the vav consecutive meaning "and" and reverses the tense of the verb. The letter y is the prefix identifying the subject of the verb as masculine singular. We are then left with the word lp. The missing third letter for this root is the dropped n as the root is lpn. rwa This is a root word meaning "light." This word is the subject of the previous verb. yhyw This is the same verb with the same conjugation as the previous verb but includes the w, which reverses the tense from imperfect to perfect, and becomes "and he existed." rwa The same word meaning, light, and again, the subject of the previous verb.
