A First Hebrew Reader Cameron
A First Hebrew Reader Cameron
A First Hebrew Reader Cameron
1EBREW RESDER
BY
SECOND EDITION
(Revised throughout)
A HEBREW ROLL
C/5
i«/) /library)
BY
/
DUNCAN CAMERON, B.D.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HEBREW, EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY
second edition
(revised throughout)
FOR
A FEW The
Principal Sir
alterations
writer takes
have been made
this opportunity
Donald MacAlister and Professor William B.
in this
of
Edition.
thanking
Name.
A FIRST HEBREW READER
—
Remarks. (i) In the English Alphabet we have not merely,
consonants like B, C, D, but also vowels like A, E, and O. It is
not so in Hebrew. The alphabet consists entirely of consonants.
Hebrew words are written from right to left, not as in English
(2)
from left to right. Therefore, if we wish to write down the Hebrew
letters for a word in which the consonants are in the order b r ch
in English letters, we write in Hebrew n "1 2, the first letter being
hand of the word.
at the right
Aleph represents the catch in the breath heard in English
(3)
between two vowels in a word like " re-inforce." The beginner
may regard it as a mute letter. In transliterating (that is, in
writing out the Hebrew letters in the corresponding letters of the
English Alphabet) it is usual to represent Aleph by '.
(4) Ayin is a difficult sound to reproduce, and may be taken by
the beginner as a mute letter. It is represented in transliteration
by'.
(5) We have not a letter that can be compared to Cheth. The
"
final ch in
"
represents the sound fairly well.
loch do not We
find that sound at the beginning of a word in English, but it is
EXERCISE I.
^r\ ,^'Ti:\ ,''iQ ,nt ,^3 ,n^^-i yy<^ ,n:v pr\rv ^ir^^
Final Letters. —
Five of the letters have two forms, one
being used when the letter is at the end of a word. Note
that
Nun „ ; „ 3
Pe „ 5j „ a or D
Tsadi „ r „ ^
in transliteration by dh.
Gimel and Kaph without the dagesh have the same
sound, resembling "ch" in "loch." In transliteration, 3 is
"
represented by gh and 3 by " "
kh." We have already
" " "
seen that a is pronounced like g in get," and 3 like
"k" in "keep."
" " " " "
Pe E is p in pain," but Q
pronounced like ph is
in the word
"
philosopher
" "
" —
the sound of our letter " f."
" " " "
Tau n is like t in tea," but n is th in thing."
4 A FIRST HEBREW READER
Rem(irks.—{\) Note the resemblance between some of the letters
of the Hel:)re\v Alphabet. Beth is not unlike Kaph, but note that
Beth is not rounded like Kaph. Gimel and Nun resemble each
other.
(2) Daleth and Resh are sometimes confused but note that Resh ;
EXERCISE II.
butn "th."
(4) Note that the end of a verse is marked by J
'
EXERCISE III.
—
Remarks. (i) Note remarks at end of Exercise II.
(2) These are two verses from the Book of Jonah.
(3) Hebrew is written from right to left The first word
wythplll is written p^SJT'V Note that a consonant is doubled
in Hebrew by using Dagesh. Thus ^ = 11.
" " " " " "
(4) Note that t is u and t is T\; and that § is D and
" s
"
is t>>.
LESSON III.
(2)
6 A FIRST HEBUEW READER
" "
ben," the Hebrew word for a son," is
"
written
I?. This vowel sign is called Tsere."
(3) Chlreq.
—
The sound i is represented by the sign ;-
under the consonant. Usually this vowel sound is
"
represented with the aid of the consonant Yod."
"
Yod "
then loses its value as a consonant. We
have something corresponding to this in English.
" " "
In the word bay," y has lost its value and its
"
sound as a consonant. The sound IT," the
" Note
Hebrew word for to me," is written v.
the dot under the consonant and the •*
following.
"
This vowel sign is called Chlreq."
CJwlem. The— sound 5 is represented also in two
(4)
ways, with or without the aid of a consonant
—
"
the consonant in this case being Waw." The
" "
sound of our word coal is represented in
Hebrew by ^p or ^ip. In transliterating these
we write " q 5 1." Note that without the
letters
aid of "Waw," "Cholem" is a dot above the
consonant. When "
Waw " is used, the dot is
"
placed above the Waw."
(5) SJmreq. The— sound u is represented in two ways,
"
with or without the aid of Waw." The syllable
" "
which we may represent by the letters kum
is written in Hebrew Dp or D^P. This is a
"
Hebrew word meaning Arise." This vowel
"
sign is called Shureq," and we see that it is
represented either by the sign under the con- •.;•
"
sonant, or by 1
"
Waw with a dagesh. Note
that i is o, but that !i is u.
follow.
A FIRST HEBREW READER 7
'
Answer :
qo 1 i, 6 s i
ph, s u ph, ch a bh u sh, ha r i m,
sh e n I th.
word on the right side, but write the EngHsh letters from left to
right.
(3) The pronunciation of these Hebrew words may be repre-
sented thus :
ko-ll, 6-sIf, suf, cha-vush ("ch" in "loch"), ha-rim,
she-nlth.
" "
(4) Remember that ch always represents the sound of ch in
" "
loch," never ch in church."
VOCABULARY I.
Hebrew Word.
8 A FIRST HEBREW READER
EXERCISE IV.
•
-v
'
t' I-t' -t'" t
Short Vowels
" " " "
Note (i) the sound of a in hat ;
" "
a stands for the sound of " a
"
in hat and e, i, 6, u ;
(2) Segol.
—The sound e is represented by
"
under ._.
"
the consonant. Thus el is the sound of the
"
Hebrew word meaning unto." It is written
"as*. Note the Aleph n* in this word, not repre-
senting a sound; and note the line which connects
it with the following word corresponding to our
i or 1
;
„ •.;• » u or u ;
lO A FIRST HEBREW READER
The student will soon come to know when these signs
represent short or long vowels. Meanwhile, it is enoiigJi to
knozu that the voivel is usually short in a closed syllable, but
lo7ig in an open syllable.
A closed syllable is one which ends with a consonantal
sound ;
an open syllable ends with a vowel-sound. Thus,
" "
"
hat a closed syllable in the word " hat-ter," but
is
"
fa
is an open syllable in the word " fa-ther."
" "
Note „ is e as in 13 a son (ben) ;
^v is I as in ^3 "for" (kl) ;
"
S or ,.;. is o as in ^ip or ^p a voice" (k5l) ;
.2
(J
" " C
ws u as in i^/ to us (la-nu) ;
3
C
_ is a as in "in "a mountain" (har) ; o
.; is e as in "?^5 "unto" (el).
pronounce I and ij ;
if in a closed syllable, T and u, unless
directed otherwise in a note.
Wenow give some examples on the lines of the
exercise which follows.
Question : Transliterate and pronounce the following
words :
'el, 1 e kh,
'
e 1 e h a,
'
e th, 1 e
'
1 o h i m, y a m i m,
w a y y a ch e 1,
1 a bh o ', y o m.
(2) Pronunciation :
Remarks. — (i) Note the line joining "fjN to the following word.
Written without this, the pointing is 7N.
"
(2) Final Kaph pronounced like ch in loch."
(3) Occasionally e is written (Segol followed by Yod).
"•
EXERCISE V.
:inb^
TV ,i;T^
-T
' ,Qi«
T T ,-iDn
'
V V '
.it^^'n^
•• ••
are sure it is 0.
LESSON V.
" "
we shall write and
and above the line.
"'
The a little
" "
Hebrew for them
Dn^y.
upon This is is
pronounced
^-le-hem, the a being indistinct, the stress on the second
syllable -le-. The transliteration of the word is '^-le-h e m.
Cnpf^ is word meaning "God."
a It is transliterated
'^-lo-h i m.
As an example of writing out Hebrew letters and vowel-
signs in English letters, we take the ist verse of the Book
of Jonah :
(5) Note the third word in the verse given above, ni^rr;.
This word occurs very frequently in the Hebrew Bible.
We see that the consonants are Yod, He, Waw, and He
(reading from right to left). The vowels are Sh^va, Cholem,
and Kametz. If we
word without the vowel-
write the
signs, we have nin\ This is the word invariably translated
"
"
the Lord in the English Bible. Our word " Jehovah "
expresses what we have in the text of the Hebrew Bible,
where the word nin'' is pointed with the vowel-sounds of
14 A FIRST IIEHREW READER
another Hebrew word — "JIN* (pronounced ''-dh5-nai), ai
"
representing the vowel-sound in the English word my."
The Hebrews regarded the very name niri'' with such
reverence that they did not utter it. They did not say the
word, the consonants of which were nin'' ; they said ''p^
^-dho-nai. Whenever you see nin\ you will know that it
We now to
turn the words at the beginning of the
Book of Jonah. The following is an attempt to represent
the way in which these words should be pronounced :
..:
„ 4 (la-nu)
Indistinct Vowels, like e in "believe";
„ ... by
^
as '^
15 h 1 m for C'^S^*
" '"
as n':x
„ ^^. by niy yah for
TT : T T T
of a sentence.
(4) Note the dagesh in a in the word npnan Here dagesh
does not merely signify that Gimel is to be pronounced "g," but it
EXERCISE VI.
T :
•- T v— t:-:-- t-:--:- t Itt-
V T • T T :•— TT .. .- - T T
: I •
: T '
T!
(Jonah i'.)
—
Remarks. (i) Read from right to left, but write the English
letters from left to right.
(2) The first word is w a y y a q o m.
(3) Note that ^ is "1," but that V is "11." In the case of the
" " " "
Begadkepat letters, the dagesh may or may not mean the
i6 A FIRST HEBREW READER
"
not "
"
doubling of the letter. Thus n in
n^'"»E/'iri
is t tt," and 3
in the word nN3 is "b" not "bb." The student will be right if
T T
"
he takes 2 at the beginning of a word as "b" not bb." In the
case of letters other than 3, 3, 1, 2, Q, n "dagesh" signifies the
doubling of the letter.
(4J Express rl2 by b a h. Note the dagesh in n. n is usually
T
mute at the end of a word, but when it has dagesh it is not a mute
letter.
EXERCISE VII.
Remarks. —
(i) This is the 3rd verse of the 3rd chapter of Jonah.
"
(2)Express doubled letters by dagesh." For example, in the
first word "yy" is " so also in third word. There are five of the
;
(5) Express 1
by v. .
; thus Tj; for 'ir.
VOCABULARY III.
Hebrew
Word.
LESSON VI.
The Article. — In
"
Hebrew there is no Indefinite
"
Article,
like the English
"
a or " an." "
A city is i^V (' r, the i
"
sound of our word ear ").
The Definite Article is not written as a separate word
"
like our the," but is put at the beginning of the word to
which it is attached. Its usual form is n and the letter
(ha),
" " "
following is doubled. Thus dv is a daj-," but the day
" "
dagesh," the sign of a doubled
''
" "
Note then that a desert is ">2n?p, but " the desert is
"
" " " " "
-innrsn
(pronounced ham-midh-bar, dh like th in this ").
(2) Before N, j;, "1 the Article is usually n. Hence "the ship" is
n>:N*n.
T t: T
Examples.
— Put the Article before the following words :
—
•
T - T t:
The first word ('ir), pronounced like our word "ear," means
For " the city
" "
a city."
we write Ti'n (Remark 2). n':N *
T T •
t;
no reason here for not writing the Article in the usual form.
^
See Note i, page 21.
A FIRST HEBREW READER 19
•• T •
: T :
•
T •
t: T :
EXERCISE VIII.
,trsi
» V V ,-^^0
' ,D''tp:^^
'
T -:
• ,ntr-L^
'
T T - ,D^Qt2^
' - T
• .^niri
'
T ,d^T
' ,D^n'^«
'
v: ,tr^« • '
• - ' •
T :
' -V '
T
20 A FIRST HEBREW READER
VOCABULARY IV.
cha-mas violence
T T
n^-dha-rlm vows
ne-fesh soul or life
sha-ma-yim heaven
21
(2) See Note i, page
LESSON VII.
"
also the Hebrew for And the word of the Lord was to
"
Jonah is njr-f'N'
nin^nn^ The subject is " The word
\-i;i.
READING EXERCISE.
Pronunciation :
EXERCISE IX.
23
24 A iniST IIKHREW READER
Singular.
A FIRST HEBREW READER 25
VOCABULARY V.
Hebrew
Word.
26 A FIRST HEBREW READIER
Pronunciation :
JVotes. (i)
— Remember that "
ch
"
"
has the sound of
"
" " "
ch in the word loch," not of " ch in the word church."
"
(2) The pronunciation of last syllable here is cha."
EXERCISE X.
Isfotcs. — (
I
) The words with gender noted are given in
Vocabularies I.— V.
"
is inflected —undergoes a change. In English
" "
it is Lord that is inflected ;
in Hebrew it is word."
We may represent the difference in this way it is as if :
Lord
••nrpx-in ben ^"-mit-tai the son of Amit- I?
tai
nrsDH ^nsT yar-k^-the has- the sides of the D'ri2T
s^'-fl-na ship
?3nn ni rav ha-ch5-vel the shipmaster 31
c'^xn C-'s: ne-fcsh ha-Ish the Hfe of the C'DJ
man
J-in >yp m^-e had-dach the belly of the D'V^
fish
^iSC* jDn be-ten sh^-6l the bellyof Hades 1^3
Cti!^ 337 P-vav yam-mlm heart of seas 337
sh'^-cha holiness
Dnn "'3^'P kitz-ve ha-rim the roots of moun- n'yap
tains
Nitr
: T
^bn~
••
:
hav-le shaui idols of vanity
^
D'^3n
T :
lech kin
iS5< |hn ch^-ron ap-po the heat of his )iin
anger
" " " "
Note au represents sound of o\v in "how."
(i)
Construct form.
(2) The Construct form has not the
article. "The life" is
Therefore the Hebrew for "thy holy temple" coming at the end of
a sentence is ^tiHp ^^'H.
So also with the phrase Ni::^"''*'p2n (Jonah ii.
9 ;
ver. 8 in English
"
N'lti'"vZin. We would say in ordinary English vain idols," using
EXERCISE XI.
The Pronoun. —
In a phrase like
"
he said," the pronoun
"
in Hebrew is included in the verb form. Thus i??5< means he
"
said," and ''JjiTr^
means I said." When the pronoun is added
in addition to the verb form, it is for the sake of emphasis.
The word for " I" in Hebrew is '?^« or '?Jx (^-ni or a-no-chi).
^Tp)'^^ "^iS might be translated "As for me, I said," "I, I said."
"
Again nnt means " he sacrificed," and n2m means I
shall sacrifice."
We may translate natx ^3^5 "/ shall sacrifice,' laying
stresson the pronoun. {See Voc. viI. for pronunciation^
The word J^pn means "thou hast pitied." If we write
"
also the personal pronoun for thou," we get ripn nnx, which
vnr "-JS
"
I am knowing " or " I know." Note
Pathach Furtive.
Occurring at the end of a clause, this reads
"
nin^ nrisi Thou art Jehovah."
"
nni' ^3!)5<i I am speaking."
nnx "
fian hii Thou art a gracious God."
Note then these pronouns :
•JN or ''3'^^
means " I," pronounced ''-ni or a-no-chl.
nnsi „ "thou," „ at-ta.
X^in „ "he," ,,
hu.
VOCABULARY VI I.
Hebrew Word. Pronunciation, Meaning.
^-le-hem unto them
e-rets earth, land
a-mar-ti I said
b5-re-ach fleeing
go-ra-l5th lots
dib-ber he spoke
do-ver speaking
nnr
~
T
za-vach he sacrificed
ez-bach I shall sacrifice
chan-nun gracious
DnT chas he pitied
chas-ta thou hast pitied
T ya-dha he knew
•
: "T ya-dha-tl I knew
:t ya-dh^-Q they knew
yo-dhe-a knowing
m'^-la-cha business
m^-lach-t^-cha thy business
mil-lif-ne ^-dh5-nai [from the presence
T - • .
: ;
\ of Jehovah
iv-rl a Hebrew
oy am people
READING EXERCISE.
(Jonah i.
9, 10.)
Pronunciation :
EXERCISE XII.
TJie Pronotm. —
So far we have only considered the
nominative case of the Personal Pronoun. In this lesson
" "
we consider the method of expressing my," his," etc.,
" "
Thus ^ip is "voice" and vip my voice (k5-ll)
" " " "
mi „ head „ 'c:*x'l
my head (r5-shl).
" "
Thus Q^'n is " life but "
"
"'»n
my life " (chay-yai)
" «
D^?^.^« „ God „ ^n^s; my God (^"-lo-hal).
" " " "
In pause, my life is ''jn
and my God ''nS?*.
There is only the one form of the suffix for " my,"
whether it refers to a masculine or feminine noun. But
"
there is one form of suffix for " thy when it refers to a
masculine noun, and a slightly different form when it refers
to a feminine noun.
35
36 A FIRST HEBREW READER
When it is attached to a singular noun, and refers to
" "
a mascuHne noun, thy is expressed by the suffix
"
student should distinguish carefully between " thy
The
" "
referring to a noun, and thy attached to a noun. Thus
speaking of Jonah in the phrase "thy business," "thy"
refers to a masculine noun n^i'' (yo-na), but it is attached
" "
to a feminine noun, the word for business i^^^^^p. The
suffix is therefore the masculine suffix. confine our- We
" "
selves here to thy and the
referring to masculine nouns,
"
student can learn later the feminine suffix for thy."
"
We
note again that attached to a singular noun, " thy
is expressed by the suffix T •. :
cha)
" " " "
^P is holiness „ ^•^']^ „ thy holiness (kodh-
sh^-cha).
In pause these words are ^V1^? and ^?f'1P with accent on
case of a word of the dual form (page 23) the dual ending
D/--- (a-yim) gives way to T* .; (e-cha).
God "
"
Thus D^n^x is
"
but ^^nSx « thy God (^-lo-
he-cha)
" " " "
Dn3C*'o is breakers „ 1'"i3f '•? thy breakers (mish-
ba-re-cha)
" " " "
D'^a is waves „ ^'hi thy waves (gal-
le-cha)
" " " "
D^ry is eyes „ I'J'J? thy eyes (e-ne-
cha).
D""•
or the dual ending D' _ (Im, plural; ayim, dual).
" " " "
Thus D^S3 is
palms (of hand) Dn^a? their palms
(kap-pe-hem)
D^to is " works " ^\}VVp
"
their works
"
(ma-'^-se-hem).
" • -
My"" attached to a singular noun, suffix
" •
My " „ plural noun, „ -.
"
Thy singular noun, „ ^ ;
" "
Thy plural noun, „ T „
" " -
Their singular noun, „
" "
Their plural noun, „ ^[}'' ..-
VOCABULARY VIII.
Hebrew Word.
38 A FIRST HEBREW READER
A FIRST HEBREW READER 39
U3, for the sea was going and tempestuous. And he said
unto them, Take me up and cast me into the sea and will
be silent the sea from upon you, for knowing (am) I that
upon my account
this great tempest (is) upon you. And
rovved^ the to men
bring back to the dry land, and not
were they able, for the sea (was) going and tempestuous
upon them.
(
1
) Note "
hay
"
not our " hay," but ha —a as in " hat."
See page 22.
(2) Literally, "digged."
EXERCISE XIII.
" "
eiVT
"
rage or " anger," 13^! " its rage," the word " its
"
referring to the masculine noun 2^ sea."
" " " "
XD3 throne i^D? his throne (kis-o)
" " " "
ni^>* mantle irn^j{ his mantle (ad-dar-to)
" " " "
Tj-i-i way 13")"^
his way (dar-ko)
" " "
K'Q3 " life his life
iK^^3 (naf-sho)
" " " "
pjx anger i^V' his anger (ap-po)
" " " "
r^; right hand i^'O'^
his right hand (y"-mi-n5)
"
!5Nbb' « left hand " i^5<bb^
"
his left hand (s«-m6-l6)
" "
When his is attached to a plural word, it is ex-
putting V in place of the plural ending Q^
pressed by ^ .
:
"
D'rf^a
"
God," vn^s* " his God (^-l6-hau)
" "
D^ViJ " nobles," vWa his nobles (g"-dho-lau).
" "
The suffix for the word her when it is attached to a
-
singular noun is 1^ :
T : T - T : T T ;
- t : v :?:
•-
T - • I -T T •• T I
•• • - : V - •
T V V :
^n^'L^^i
•.•:-
™v-nt^
T V
^b^to"')
•-:
',rv'm
T T •
^i^on
T - T:
iir«3
v -: -
nin""
t :
(Jonah i.
14-16.)
Pronunciation :
they Ah we
pray, Jehovah,
said, do not, we pray, let us
perish for^ the life of this man, and do not give upon us
innocent blood, for Thou, Jehovah, according to what Thou
hast desired Thou hast done. And they lifted up Jonah
and they cast him into the sea, and the sea^ stood from its
raging. And the men^ feared (with)^ a great fear Jehovah,
and they sacrificed a sacrifice to Jehovah and they vowed
vows.
EXERCISE XIV.
and "
To the city " is n^J?^.
"
The sea
"
is D'^n.
"
On the sea " is DJ3 (bay-yam).
"
The ship
"
is ^''}:^T:.
"
On the ship " is n^:t<zi (ba-"-nIy-ya).
"
The fish
"
is T\r].
"
To the fish " is 3^^ (lad-dach).
The Preposition.
— Another Preposition frequently used
"
in Hebrew is "IP (mm). It means from," as in the
"
phrase The sea
: ceased from its raging."
Take the sentence " Turn from the violence which is :
"
in your hands." We may express
"
from the violence in
" "
Hebrew by prefixing "ip to the word for the violence
"
Dcnn (see page 1
8). Hence " from the violence is
"
Dronn-ip (see Voc. IV.), and " from the city "I'V^'")'?.
"
The commoner way to express " from is to assimilate
the I
of iP to consonant of the following word.
the first
"
His raging" is isVI (za-po)
" "
From his raging is isy-TO
(miz-za-p6).
" "
Dip is the east
"
nniJiD is from the east."
doubled.
"
The Hebrew word "'psp means before."
" " "
"•JSpp means from
from the face of." before or
" "
Hence from the face of Jehovah is n^n"" ''3Q^p (Voc.
vii.).
Before a letter which is not doubled (x, n, n, y, i), IP
becomes p :
" "
The word is ^3^^n (Voc. III.)
" "
The word of the Lord is
nhn^^
-)yi
(page 28).
"
The life of the man " is K'^NH U'W
" "
By the life of the man is C*^xn ti'wa.
" "
^"^xn L"S33
Note that t^'Q?? is by the life (page 44), but
"
by the life of the man."
" "
The belly is D''y'5n (pronounced ham-me-im)
" "
The
belly of the fish is J^n ^yo (page
28)
" "
In the belly of the fish is J-^n '>m.
" "
The evil way is nynn Tji'in (page 24)
"
His evil way" is nyin is^T
" "
From his evil way is r^vy^ ian'iD
"From their " CiSTnn (page
evil way" is ^Vpj} ' 37)
" "
His wrath is iSN*
(ap-p5)
*'
The heat of his wrath " is isx Jinn
"
From the heat of his wrath " is iQ^* liinp (see page 47).
VOCABULARY XI.
EXERCISE XVI.
Jehovah.^
(3) I called from his throne.
VOCABULARY XII.
Hebrew Word.
52 A FIRST HEBREW READER
"
(2) Literally, And thou hast caused to go up."
(3) Or "it will come," the word "it" referring to a
feminine noun.
READING EXERCISE.
ch'wh
T :
nrn
— —
•
; TV*:
n^ii^^'2. v-^v^n
1 v t t
^pn-)-'
• —
; t
n^in
t • ''i^pS
••;'•:
• :- -T '••-:•: t v: t: — -— . _ —
tTjirip
V :'t
'
^^'^n-S^^
- V ..
^rhzD
T • T^i^
...••
•
^^inm
T-
:
^rr^st
•
-.Tx
nin^-ni^
T :
'.n^n^h
T — nr\v'\'^''
T T :
nnW^^
T ~ ^nn:
—T '•
~: '
:
itri^
v -:
^V-nn!it^^
t t v : :
EXERCISE XVII.
VOCABULARY XIII.
Hebrew Word.
A FIRST HEBREW READER 55
"
^\^X is unto thee."
" "
vJ'X
is
"
him
unto and V^^O " from upon him
(e-lau and me-a-lau).
r\h)^ is "unto her" and n^nnn "under her."
"
^3'H'o is from upon us."
" " "
^?''.c'yp is from upon you and Q3yy. upon you."
EXERCISE XIX.
Translate into Hebrew :
VOCABULARY XV.
Hebrew Word. Pronunciation, Meaning,
al-yit— mu let them not taste
al-yir-u let them not feed (eat)
al-yish-tu let them not drink
PVT
~
T
za-ak he cried out
way-yaz-ek and he proclaimed
3 k^ according to
nE)3 kis-sa he covered
wa-y^-chas and he covered
la-vash he put on (clothes)
way-yil-b^-shu and they put on
T ;
m*-u-ma anything
touched
~T
na-cha
he
(he reached unto
he touched
way-yig-ga and
(and it reached unto
n3£n3 ne-pe-cheth overturned
way-ya-^'-ver and he removed
sak-kim sackcloth
6o A FIRST HEBREW READER
Note that PVP] means, literally, and he caused to cry '•
"
out," and i?p and he caused to pass by." See Voc. XI.
n^snj is the Passive Participle. In pause it is written
READING EXERCISE.
(Jonah iii.
7.)
EXERCISE XX.
Translate into Hebrew :
" "
This is the great tempest is in Hebrew ^^JlI "lyBH nr.
" "
This great tempest is
r\\p^
^HJn -ij?Dn.
" "
This great city is rmr\ njsinan Tyn.
" "
This is the good word is nitsn in^n nr.
"
"
This good word is mn aitsn -i2^n.
"
Wetake another example of this construction The :
We take one other example " What (is) thy land ? " :
VOCABULARY XVI.
Hebrew Word.
A FIRST HEBREW READER 63
64 A FIRST HEBREW READER
(6) Call unto her the call which I (am) speaking unto
thee.
Tlie Conjunction.
— "
And "
is
expressed in
usually
Hebrew by \ prefixed to a word. It never a word by
is
"
itself. Thus the phrase, And in the ship was like to be
broken," the first three English words are expressed in
Hebrew by the one word i^'^^^'^"!, \ being " and," and n the
Article " the," and ^'3^« the word for " ship."
" "
Always write and as \ prefixed to a word unless you
know a good reason for not doing so. Here are some
cases when we depart from the ordinary form :
"
(2) Before Simple Sh'^va we have ^. Thus J*"]?
is Cry."
" "
And cry is
^y} (u-k"-ra).
(3) Before the indistinct vowel _. it is pointed 1, before
;;.
and before - it is V
it is ),,
Dnb
VT
n^an •
""3
.
n-12
- sin mn''
..
T
"'jd'pd '3 n''L'3xn lyT" "3 n^L"j;
..... .
T -; T.
T • •
riNrno
•
:t T
means " for," the second " that," and the third " for."
VOCABULARY XVII.
Hebrew Word.
66 A FIRST IIKHREW UEADKll
A FIRST HEBREW READER G-j
EXERCISE XXII.
(9) Call against her, for their evil has gone up before
me.
(10) And God saw their deeds that they turned from
their evil way.
(11) I knew Thou (art) a God gracious and merciful.
(12) He went
into thy holy temple.
Notes.
"
— (
I
)
"
And not we shall perish
"
;
the word for
"
not before the verb.
(2) Use
"nx as sign of Accusative.
See page 21.
(3) Note that the word Nineveh is feminine. For
"was" see p. 54. Here put "And Nineveh" before the
verb.
Put verb before the subject unless you are told not to do so.
LESSON XX.
The — Readers
of English are familiar with
Verb.
changes in the form of a verb to express number and
person and case. We say, " The man comes," " The men
come." We say, "Thou didst," "We do," "He does,"
" "
They did," varying forms of the one verb to do."
In Hebrew, verbs are inflected, change their form, for
various reasons, To
express Number and Person.
(i) We
start with the form that is used to express our Fast Tense.
" "
1"]^
meanshe went down (Voc. v.).
This is the simple form of the verb, 3rd sing. masc.
We start with that form and we add the following
suffixes for 3rd sing. fem. etc. :
Singular. Plural.
3rd masc.
— ^—
3rd fem. n-_-
1—
2nd masc. T ^— Dn —
2nd fem. ^ — —
I^i
1st 'n— «—
We give the various forms of "^T^ to express Person and
Number.
Ti^ He went down. iTi^ They went down,
mi"'
T :t
She went down.
rinT Thou wentest down (masc). QJ^ilT You went down.
nnT Thou wentest down (fem.). \^'^?\ You went down.
^mi'' I went down.
•
-T:
l^T}""
: T
We went down.
If I
"•
.
be the second vowel in the verb it is un-
changed.
(2) The first vowel in the 2nd plural is Sh^va Vocal.
68
A FIRST HEBREW READER 69
VOCABULARY XVIII.
Hebrew Word. Pronunciation, Meaning,
e-rech ap-pa-yim slow of anger^
n h^ (Interrogative)
hith-pal-lel he prayed
way-yith-pal-lel and he prayed
nnn cha-ra (anger) burned^
way-yi-char and (anger) burned
chish-shev he thought
nation chish-sh^-va she thought
ya-chol he was able
T ya-ch5-lu they were able
way-ye-ra and it was evil
kid-dam-ti I came before
rav-che-sedh of great mercy
Notes. — (i) Say, "slow to anger." "'DO"^! "great of
"
mercy ;
both iix and are m
in the Construct Form.
(Lesson IX.)
" "
(2) Literally, "he burned," the subject anger being
understood.
READING EXERCISE.
•
T :
— — *
v; — •
T : v -: t ; t t — ~
nni^i ^3 ^nj?!"^
"^3 nir^irhn m;i^ ^f?^^P 15"^i^
EXERCISE XXIII.
(6) I
prepared to go unto Nineveh.
(7) Thou hast heard my voice in Thy holy temple.
(8) Thou hast pitied the man who went down to
Tarshish.
(9) I was expelled from before thine eyes.
(10) I cried (for help) unto Jehovah my God (page 35).
(i i) I have vowed as thou hast desired.
prefixed.
The vowels are different. The first is i and the second
6, Sh^'va under Shin marking the close of a syllable.
"
\>T\^\ means "
he is silent or " he will be silent." It
"
DK'yn'' means he will be gracious."
"
3^ is he turned," Past Form. (Voc. X.)
"
^IK'^ is he will turn," Imperfect Form. (Voc. XVII.)
nsT "
is he saw."
nNT "
is he will see."
"
n^'n is «
he was," and n\n^ " he will be," or it will be."
mi means "
"
he will do."
t<"3?'.
and ^^<^P'! Imperfect (yik-r^-u).
The rule may be stated thus : ^i is added and the vowel
preceding this is indistinct (Sh^va in the case given above).
" " " "
ixijp"; means they will call or let them call
(page 62).
3fy^ means " he will leave."
"
=i3Ty;i means " they will leave in pause, l^fl?";. ;
letter is always
••
and the last ^.
A FIRST HEBREW READER 73
74 A FIRST HEBREW READER
(2) Are you really angry?
(3) He on the cast side of Nineveh.
sat
praise,
(11) Let them cover themselves (with) sackcloth before
the king of Nineveh.
(12) They will turn from the evil way.
Notes. — (2) Put the word for
"
really
"
first, with n
prefixed.
"
(8) For what," see page 62. For Construct Form,
see page 29.
"
(9) Say, I shall add to come." See Vocabularies.
(12) Take word for "way" as feminine. See page 24.
LESSON XXII.
sonant doubled.
So also 2113, the Past Form, means "he repented"; but
when on:'! comes after the Imperfect Form, like 3itJ'^, it means
"
and he will repent," not " and he repented." Take verse
9 in the 3rd chapter of the Book of Jonah. The English
translation is
"
Who knows but that he will turn and will
:
"
repent, and will turn from the heat of his anger ? See page
"
66. Now the Hebrew for " and he will repent is Qn3"!, and for
" " "
and he will turn," 3C'\ nn; and 3^ mean he repented
"
and he turned," but coming after the simple Imperfect
"
Form he will return
in the narrative (^'^^\ ") with \ prefixed
they have the meaning of the Imperfect.
We give some examples of Waw Consecutive.
" " " "
iT'n rneans he was ;
^|""l means and he was or
"
and it came to pass," 'H^
being shortened form
of the Imperfect.
" "
K5iO
T T
means " he found J^^^'Q'
;
' T ;
•
he will find," »
and N*^'»^1
T — :
"
and he found."
"
Qns"! means " he will repent ;
CinjM "
and he repented."
" " "
nD2 he covered ;
D3^l and he covered."
" " "
nap „ he prepared ; iP'.i. and he prepared."
VOCABULARY XX.
Hebrew Word
A FIRST HEBREW READER 77
Literal translatio7i. —
And prepared Jehovah God a
gourd and it went up above Jonah to be a shade upon his
head to deliver him from his evil and rejoiced Jonah upon
the gourd (with) a great joy.
EXERCISE XXV.
Translate into Hebrew :
loyp^, ^y-il, ^7\^\ (Jonah iii. 7), the Imperfect Forms of verbs,
are to be taken as expressing a wish, as ^^ (not N^) is used
before them. The meaning is, " Let them not taste," and
" " "
not, They will not taste ;
Let them not feed," and
"
Let them not drink."
Sometimes the Imperfect Form is used even in the 2nd
person. Thus t^n is the 2nd singular Imperfect of the
" " "
verb in3, and means usually, Thou wilt give or Thou
" used
givest but inrr^x is plainly a wish or prayer,
;
as ?N* is
Di^ ,,
"he arose"; Dip „" arise."
When n ^.
is added to the ist person of the Imperfect
78
A FIRST HEBREW READER 79
Note Pathach Furtive in 0^)2 and T^^", and see page 16.
The usual form of the Simple Past is '^?n. We see that
the first vowel-sound is a, and the second is a. Some
verbs have the Past Form ^"^.^ with the second vowel-sound
e. In these verbs the Participle the same as the Past. is
"" "
Thus ^T^ means either
or he feared
fearing,"
We note some other forms of the Participle in Hebrew.
Verbs of the form ^^2 have the Participle the same as the
"
Past Form. Thus f<3 means either " he came or " coming,"
The feminine form of this Participle is nx3. See page 23.
"
a"^i3 means he slept." The simple form of this verb
is Dnn, but this is Usually when 3 is prefixed
not used.
to the Simple Past, the verb has a passive meaning in
English. The student has to keep in mind that when the
Past Form is D^-iJ the Participle is D'H^^.
Wehave seen that the Participle feminine has some-
times the form nx3, n- being added to the masculine.
Sometimes the Participle feminine has the ending n (eth).
8o A FIRST HEBREW READER
" "
n?^ is the Past (simple) of the verb, and means he turned
or "
he overturned." express the Passive of this by We
"
prefixing : thus "n?'?!? he ;
was overturned," pronounced
ne-pach.
The form expressing the Passive Participle is '^^^?.. A
feminine form of this is npanj, in pause riDsm.
We have seen that the usual form of the Simple Past
"
is '^?^.
Thushe watched." But sometimes
"iipt^
means
the Past has the form I'Sti', ^ being doubled. This gives
"
he watched much," or " he wor-
the verb the meaning,
shipped." The Participle of a Past Form like is iSK'O, W
the plural being D''"i)3;i'D. See page 23.
VOCABULARY XXI.
Hebrew Word. Pronunciation, Meaning,
nn3TS ez-b^-cha let me sacrifice
al-t!t-ten do not give
ho-lech going
he turned
ha-fach
he overturned
way-yi-vash and
- • -J T •- it withered
way-yl-vash
(pause) (dried up)
(pause)
wat-tach and it smote
n''t^"'")n ch''-rl-shith silent, hot
m^-sham-m^-rlm worshippers
no-v^-dha let us perish
ne-dh'^-a let us know
T • ~ nap-pl-la let us cast
-lyo
~ T
sa-ar he was tossed
-lyb s6-er being tossed
shil-lem he completed
''^-shal-P-ma
- T • ~ 1 let
T : ;' -;
^-shal-le-ma me complete
(in pause)
(in pause)
sha-char dawn, morning
ny^in t5-la-ath a worm
"
For pronunciation of way," see page 2 2.
A FIKST HEBREW READER 8i
READING EXERCISE.
(Jonah iv. 7, 8 )
going up of the dawn next day, and it smote the gourd and
it (the gourd) dried up. And it was as soon as the rising
of the sun and prepared God a hot east wind and smote
the sun upon the head of Jonah and he was faint and he
asked his Hfe to die and he said better my death than my
Hfe.
•
EXERCISE XXVI.
(i) Take my land from me.
(2) Do not give his mantle into his right hand.
(3) Go to Nineveh and let us not perish.
(4) Let me complete the sacrifice which I vowed.
(Voc. IV.)
(5) Come and let us cast lots.
VOCABULARY XXII.
Hebrew Word.
84 A FIRST HEBREW READER
VOCABULARY l^XW.—contintied.
;brew Word.
A FIRST HEBREW READER 85
"
(1) Say, The word of the Lord was."
"
(2) Say, unto."
"
(3) Say, his evil." See page 40.
LESSON XXV.
"
Nb'3
(na-sa) means he lifted up."
"
^xb'
(s^-u) is lift up," the plural form of the Imperative.
"
"'J^xb'
(sa-u-nl) is lift me up." (Note vowel under b'.)
"
So 'h^r\ is cast." (See Voc. xvil.)
"
^ib^pn is cast me."
We return to the Past Form. ^^3 is a Past Form, and
"
means "
he brought up," in the sense of " making grow or
" " "
rearing." Thou hast brought up is
n^'^a (page 68).
In
" " "
the phrase, thou hast brought up him," the word him is
expressed by changing the ending -ta into -to {^ to in).
Thus iri^^a is " thou hast broug^ht him up," or " thou hast fc.'
" "
brought it up," when it refers to a masculine noun.
We turn now to the case of pronoun suffixes added to
letter ^ into n.
"
Tj^'^'ni means and thou hast cast" (page 75). "And
thou hast cast me " is 'Jp^C'rii,
cast." 1P"'P)
is the 3rd plural of the Imperfect Form, the
Past Form being ^'tpn (Voc. XVII.). In the phrase, " and
" "
they cast him," the word him isexpressed by adding ^ri--
to "h'^i]. Thus vn^'pp or in^p;i. Note that the vowel under
the first ^
becomes indistinct.
In conclusion, note suffixes added to Infinitive Forms;
^•^v^ "
my being."
88 A FIRST HEBREW READER
LESSON XXVI.
Chap.
"
iv. ver. 9, V 'T^.n
"
Thou hast been angry." Literally,
(Anger) has burned to thee." See Voc. XVIII.
"
Compare iv. i, i? in^- Literally, And (anger) burned
to him."
Professor A. B. DAVIDSON'S
HEBREW SYNTAX
Third Edition. Svo, los. net
OUTLINES OF INTRODUCTION TO
THE HEBREW BIBLE
with many illustrations
PJ Cameron, Duncan, d
4567' 1838.
.C3 A first Hebrew
reader. —
11
fl