Lesson 5 · Stage 2

The little words on the front

Peel the article, "and" and the one-letter prepositions off a word, and see what they reveal

וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ

wəhā'āreṣ hāyətâ tōhû wāvōhû

"And the earth was formless and empty." (Gen 1:2)

wəhā'āreṣ is one written word, but three pieces: wə- "and" + hā- "the" + 'éreṣ "earth". Hebrew writes its smallest words glued to the front of the next one. Learn to peel them off and the root (Lesson 4) is what's left.

1. The article: ha- "the"

Hebrew has no word for "a". A noun alone is indefinite; ha- makes it definite.

The rule: ha- doubles the first letter of the noun (ham-m, haš-š). Some letters (alef, ayin and r, and often h and ḥ) can't be doubled, and then the vowel lengthens instead: hā-. Either way, if you see ha- or hā- at the front of a noun, think "the".

2. "And": wə- (or û-)

All of these are the same word, "and". Don't confuse them with the wa- + doubling of the narrative chain (wayyōmer, Lesson 3). That one is attached to verbs and marks "and then".

Hebrew uses "and" far more than English: Genesis 1 starts almost every clause with it. Translations often render it "then", "but", "so", "now", or drop it. When you read a translation, remember that many of those words are one small wə- in the Hebrew.

3. Three one-letter prepositions: bə-, lə-, kə-

4. Preposition + article: the h disappears

This is where it gets interesting. When bə-, lə- or kə- meet ha-, the h drops out and the preposition takes the article's vowel and doubling:

So the only thing that says "the" is the vowel: bə- "in a" vs. ba-/bā- "in the".

Why this matters: Genesis 1:1. The first word is בְּרֵאשִׁית bərē'šît, with bə-, not bārē'šît. Strictly, then, there is no "the": "In a beginning" or "In beginning". That small vowel is behind a real translation debate. The traditional reading is "In the beginning God created" (the article is often left out in time expressions). Some modern versions take bərē'šît as "in the beginning of", leading into the next clause: NJPS "When God began to create...", NRSV "In the beginning when God created...". You can now see for yourself where the question comes from.

5. min / mi- "from"

מִן min "from" can stand on its own with a hyphen (מִן־הָאֲדָמָה min-hā'ădāmâ, "from the ground", Gen 2:7), or be glued on as mi- with doubling, or mē- before a letter that can't double.

Genesis 12:1, God to Abram: לֶךְ־לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ lekh-ləkhā mē'arṣəkhā ûmimmôladtəkhā ûmibbêt 'āvîkhā, "Go from your land, and from your kindred, and from your father's house". Three froms: mē-'arṣəkhā, mim-môladtəkhā, mib-bêt. Each is "and" + "from" + noun, and each step cuts a closer tie.

6. Reading with prefixes: Psalm 23:1

מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד יְהוָה רֹעִי לֹא אֶחְסָר

mizmôr lədāwid. [the LORD] rō'î, lō' 'eḥsār. "A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not lack."

• lədāwid: lə- + dāwid. "Of David", "for David" or "to David"? lə- can mean any of them, which is why scholars debate what Psalm titles claim.

• rō'î: the CōCēC pattern from Lesson 4! Root R-'-H "shepherding", so rō'eh is "one who shepherds", and -î means "my".

7. Words

Exercises

Type your answers in plain letters: sh for š, a for ā; hyphens and accents don't matter.