Hebrew Course 3.5

Learn Hebrew Nouns ~ Lesson 5
Biblical Application
By Jeff A. Benner

At this point we have a basic understanding of verbs and nouns so let’s put some of this to practice with some Biblical passages.

Genesis 1:5
וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָאוֹר יוֹם וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה וַיְהִי־עֶרֶב וַיְהִי־בֹקֶר יוֹם אֶחָד ׃

וַיִּקְרָא

This is the verb root קרא meaning "to call." The prefix י identifies the subject of the verb as masculine singular (he) and the tense of the verb as imperfect (he will call). The prefix ו, meaning "and," also reverses the tense of the verb (and he called).

אֱלֹהִים

This is the noun meaning "God" and is the subject of the previous verb (and God called).

לָאוֹר

The prefix לָ is a combination of the prefix לְ (le) and the prefix הָ (ha). So, לָ means "to the." This prefix is attached to the noun אוֹר meaning "light" (to the light).

יוֹם

This is the noun meaning "day."

וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ

The noun is חֹשֶׁךְ. The prefix לַ means "to the." The prefix וְ means "and" (and to the night).

קָרָא

This is again the verb root קרא meaning "to call." Because of the lack of any prefixes or suffixes to the root the subject is being identified as masculine singular and the tense of the verb is perfect (he called).

לָיְלָה

This is the noun meaning "night."

וַיְהִי

This is the verb root היה meaning "to exist" or "to be." Also notice that when a verb ending with the letter ה is conjugated with a prefix (or suffix) the ה is dropped. The prefix י identifies the subject of the verb as masculine singular (he) and the tense of the verb as imperfect (he will exist/be). The prefix ו, meaning "and," also reverses the tense of the verb (and he existed/was).

עֶרֶב

This is the noun meaning "evening" and is the subject of the previous verb (and evening existed/was).

וַיְהִי

This is same verb as above meaning "and he existed/was."

בֹקֶר

This is the noun meaning "morning" and is the subject of the previous verb (and morning existed/was).

יוֹם

This is the noun meaning "day."

אֶחָד

This is the noun meaning "one."

וַתֹּאמֶר

This is the verb root אמר meaning "to say." The prefix ת identifies the subject of the verb as feminine singular (she) and the tense of the verb as imperfect (she will say). The prefix ו, meaning "and," also reverses the tense of the verb (and she said).

הָאִשָּׁה

This is the noun אִשָּׁה meaning "woman" with the prefix ה meaning "the" (the woman). This is the subject of the previous verb (and the woman said).

אֶל

This is a word meaning "to."

הַנָּחָשׁ

This is the noun נָּחָשׁ meaning "serpent" with the prefix ה meaning "the" (the serpent).

מִפְּרִי

This is the noun פְּרִי meaning "fruit" with the prefix מ meaning "from" (from the fruit).

עֵץ

This is the noun meaning "tree."

הַגָּן

This is the noun גָּן meaning "garden" with the prefix ה meaning "the" (the garden).

נֹאכֵל

This is the verb root אכל meaning "to eat." The prefix נ identifies the subject of the verb as plural (we) and the tense of the verb as imperfect (we will/may eat).

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