Lesson 2 · Stage 1
The whole first verse
Read all of Genesis 1:1 and see how a Hebrew sentence is built
The video for this lesson is being made.
בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ
bərē'šît bārā' 'ĕlōhîm 'ēt haššāmayim wə'ēt hā'āreṣ
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Gen 1:1)
You can already read the first two words. Five new letters and three new vowels give you the rest.
1. Five new letters
| Letter | Name | Sound | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| ה | he | h | gap at the top left, unlike ח (later) |
| ל | lamed | l | the only letter that rises above the line |
| מ | mem | m | at the end of a word it is written ם |
| ו | vav | v; transliterated w, as in most grammars and dictionaries | also a vowel helper, see section 3 |
| צ | tsade | ts as in cats, written ṣ | at the end of a word it is written ץ |
Final forms
Five letters change shape at the end of a word. You have met two: ם (mem) and ץ (tsade). The other three come later. Same letter, same sound, just a different shape, much as Greek writes σ but ς at the end of a word.
2. Three new vowels
| Mark | Name | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| בֶ | segol | e (short, as in bed) | be |
| בֹ | holem | ō (long, as in go), a dot above, at the top left | bō |
| בֱ | hateph segol | very short ĕ | bĕ |
The hateph vowels are a "hurried" version of a full vowel, glued to a shewa (the two dots on the right). They appear mostly under א ה and two other throat letters you will meet soon.
3. Vav as a vowel helper
Like yod, vav can carry a vowel sound instead of being a consonant:
- וֹ (vav with a dot on top) = ô, a long o
- וּ (vav with a dot in its middle) = û, a long u
You will see both in Lesson 3. For now: וְ at the start of a word is the word "and", read wə or və.
4. Reading the verse word by word
| Hebrew | Read it | Meaning | What's going on |
|---|---|---|---|
| בְּרֵאשִׁית | bə-rē-šît | in (the) beginning | בְּ "in" + רֵאשִׁית "beginning" |
| בָּרָא | bā-rā' | he created | the verb |
| אֱלֹהִים | 'ĕ-lō-hîm | God | holem on ל, hireq + yod = î, final ם |
| אֵת | 'ēt | (object marker) | not translated, see section 5 |
| הַשָּׁמַיִם | haš-šā-ma-yim | the heavens | הַ "the"; the dot in שּׁ doubles it: šš |
| וְאֵת | wə-'ēt | and (object marker) | וְ "and" + אֵת |
| הָאָרֶץ | hā-'ā-reṣ | the earth | הָ "the", segol, final ץ |
The dot inside שּׁ is a dagesh. In בּ it meant b rather than v; here, after the article, it means the letter is doubled. Lesson 3 sorts this out properly.
5. First look at syntax
This verse already shows three things you will meet on every page.
Verb first. English says God created. Hebrew narrative normally puts the verb first: bārā' 'ĕlōhîm, "created God". Verb, subject, object is the default order, so when a Hebrew writer puts something before the verb, it is usually for emphasis. Here the phrase בְּרֵאשִׁית stands before the verb, setting the scene: In the beginning, God created.
A plural that acts singular. אֱלֹהִים ends in -îm, the masculine plural ending (compare שָׁמַיִם, מַיִם). Yet the verb בָּרָא is singular: "he created". The grammar shows that the writer treats this "plural" as one subject. When the same word means pagan "gods", the verb is plural.
The object marker. אֵת has no English equivalent. It flags the next word as the definite direct object: the thing acted on, when it is specific. That is why it appears twice, before the heavens and before the earth. Prose uses it constantly; poetry often leaves it out.
6. Read these
| Hebrew | Read it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| לֹא | lō' | not |
| מַיִם | ma-yim | water |
| שֵׁם | šēm | name |
| אֵם | 'ēm | mother |
| אִם | 'im | if |
| אֶרֶץ | 'e-reṣ | earth, land |
| שָׁמַיִם | šā-ma-yim | heavens, sky |
Exercises
Type your answers in plain letters: sh for š, a for ā; hyphens and accents don't matter.