Quartz Hill School of Theology

Lesson 12: Relative Pronouns; אֶת

Vocabulary

to see רָאָה
who?מִי
dream (m.) (חֲלוֹם (חֲלוֹמוֹת
sky, heavenשָׁמַיִם
blessedבָּרוּךְ
ark, box, vesselתֵּבָה
Mosesמֹשֶׁה
Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלַיִם
Josephיוֹסֵף
prayerתְּפִלָּה
who, whomאֲשֶׁר
which, thatאֲשֶׁר
floodמַבּוּל
peopleעַם
here is, here are, behold    הִנֵּה
Godאֵל, אֱלֹהִים 
gardenגַּן
breadלֶחֶם
rib (f.)צֵלָע
likeness, formתְּמוּנָה

The Relative Pronoun אֲשֶׁר

The relative pronoun in Hebrew is אֲשֶׁר. It is used of both animate and inanimate objects. In English we make a distinction and will use “who” for persons and “which” for things. No such distinction is made in Hebrew and אֲשֶׁר covers both possibilities.

The Hebrew Particle אֶת.

The Hebrew particle אֶת is a grammatical marker. It is not translatable. It merely indicates that what follows it is a definite direct object.

So, for instance, in the first verse of the Bible:

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ

Where אֶת merely indicates that “the heavens” הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם and “the earth” הָאָֽרֶץ are grammatically the definite direct objects of “God created” בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים


Reading

Please read pages 97-101 in Biblical Hebrew Step-by-Step.

Exercises

1. Memorize the vocabulary and paradigms.

2. Do the Exercises on pages 101-103.


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Website: www.theology.edu

Quartz Hill School of Theology
43543 51st Street West
Quartz Hill, CA 93536
USA

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