Bible Lexicons

1. The formation of the persons of the Perfect is effected by the addition of certain forms of the personal pronoun, and marks of the 3rd fem. sing. and 3rd pl. (as afformatives) to the end of the verbal-stem, which contains the idea of a predicate, and may be regarded, in meaning if not in form, as a Participle or verbal adjective. For the 3rd pers. sing. masc. Perfect, the pronominal or subject idea inherent in the finite verb is sufficient: thus, קָטַל‎ he has killed, קָטַ֫לְ־תָּ‎ thou hast killed (as it were, killing thou, or a killer thou), a killer wast thou=קטל אַתָּה‎; יָרֵא‎ he was fearing, ירֵא־תֶם‎ ye were fearing=יִרא אַתֶּם‎. The ending of the 1st pers. plur. (־נוּ‎) is also certainly connected with the termination of אֲנַ֫חְנוּ‎, אנו‎ we (§32b, d). The afformative of the 1st pers. sing. (תִּי‎) is to be referred, by an interchange of כ‍‎ and ת‎ (cf. §33f), to that form of the pronoun which also underlies אָֽנֹכִי‎, I.^[2] In the third person ־ָה‎ (originally ־ַת‎, cf. below, f) is the mark of the feminine, as in a great number of nouns (§80c), and וּ‎ is the termination of the plural; cf., for the latter, the termination of the 3rd and 2nd pers. plur. Imperf. ûna in Arabic and û (often also וּן‎) in Hebrew, also ûna (in the construct state û) as the plural termination of masc. nouns in literary Arabic.

2. The characteristic Pathaḥ of the second syllable becomes Š^ewâ before an afformative beginning with a vowel, where it would otherwise stand in an open syllable (as קָֽטְלָ֫ה‎, קָֽטְל֫וּ‎; but in pause קָטָ֫לָה‎, קָטָ֫לוּ‎). Before an afformative beginning with a consonant the Pathaḥ remains, whether in the tone-syllable (קָטַ֫לְתָּ‎, קָטַ֫לְתְּ‎, קָטַ֫לְתִּי‎, קָטַ֫לְנוּ‎; in pause קָטָ֫לְתָּ‎ &c.) or before it. In the latter case, however, the Qameṣ of the first syllable, being no longer a pretonic vowel, becomes vocal Š^ewâ; as קְטַלְתֶּ֫ם‎, קְטַלְתֶּ֫ן‎; cf. §27i and §43b. On the retention of ā with Metheg of the counter-tone in the Perf. consecutive, cf. §49i.

Rem. 1. Verbs middle ē in Hebrew (as in Ethiopic, but not in Arabic or Aramaic) generally change the E-sound in their inflexion into Pathaḥ (frequently so even in the 3rd sing. masc. Perf.). This tendency to assimilate to the moro common verbs middle a may also be explained from the laws of vocalization of the tone-bearing closed penultima, which does not readily admit of Ṣere, and never of Ḥireq, of which the Ṣere is a lengthening (cf. §26p). On the other hand, Ṣere is retained in an open syllable; regularly so in the weak stems ל״א‎ (§74g), before suffixes (§59i), and in the pausal forms of the strong stem in an open tone-syllable, e.g. דָּבֵ֫קָה‎ it cleaveth, Job 29:10 (not דָּבָ֫קָה‎, cf. 2 Samuel 1:23, Job 41:15; even (contrary to §29q) in a closed pausal syllable, e.g. שָׁכֵן‎, Deuteronomy 33:12 (out of pause שָׁכַן‎, Isaiah 32:16); but קָמַ֑ל‎ Isaiah 33:9, &c., according to §29q.

2. In some weak stems middle a, the Pathaḥ under the second radical sometimes, in a closed toneless syllable, becomes ־ִ‎, and, in one example, ־ֶ‎. Thus from יָרַשׁ‎: וִיֽרִשְׁתָּהּ‎ and thou shalt possess it, Deuteronomy 17:14; וִיֽרִשְׁתָּם‎ Deuteronomy 19:1; וִיֽרִשְׁתֶּם‎ Deuteronomy 4:1, and frequently; from יָלַד‎ to bring forth, to beget; יְלִדְתִּ֫יךָ‎ Psalms 2:7 (cf. Numbers 11:12, Jeremiah 2:27, Jeremiah 15:10); from פּוּשׁ‎; וּפִשְׁתֶּם‎ Malachi 3:20; from שָׁאַל‎; שְׁאלְתִּיו‎ I have asked him, 1 Samuel 1:20 (Judges 13:6), and three times שְׁאֶלְתֶּם‎ 1 Samuel 12:13, 1 Samuel 25:5, Job 21:29. Qimḥi already suggests the explanation, that the ĭ (ĕ) of these forms of שׁאל‎ and ירשׁ‎ is the original vowel, since along with שָׁאַל‎ and יָרַשׁ‎ are also found שָׁאֵל‎ and יָרֵשׁ‎ (see the Lexicon). The possibility of this explanation cannot be denied (especially in the case of יָרַשׁ‎, see §69s); the ĭ in these forms might, however, equally well have arisen from an attenuation of ă (§27s), such as must in any case be assumed in the other instances. Moreover, it is worthy of notice that in all the above cases the ĭ is favoured by the character of the following consonant (a sibilant or dental), and in most of them also by the tendency towards assimilation of the vowels (cf. §54k and §64f).

3. In verbs middle ō, the Ḥolem is retained in the tone-syllable, e.g. יָגֹ֫רְתָּ‎ thou didst tremble; יָכֹ֫לוּ‎ in pause for יָֽכְלוּ‎ they were able; but in a toneless closed syllable the original short vowel appears in the form of a Qameṣ haṭuph; יְכָלְתִּ֫יו‎ I have prevailed against him, Psalms 13:5; וְיָֽכָלְתָּ֫‎ (see §49h) then shalt thou be able, Exodus 18:23; in a toneless open syllable it becomes vocal Š^ewâ, e.g. יָכִֽלָה‎, יָכְֽלוּ‎.

4. Rarer forms^[3] are: Sing. 3rd fem. in ־ַת‎ (as in Arabic, Ethiopic, and Aramaic), e.g. אָֽזְלַת‎ it is gone, Deuteronomy 32:36; וְנִשְׁכַּ֫חַת‎ Isaiah 23:15 (in the Aramaic form, for וְנִשְׁכְּחָה‎); from a verb ע״וּ‎, וְשָׁבַת‎, cf. §72o. This original feminine ending -ath is regularly retained before suffixes, see §59a; and similarly in stems ל״ה‎, either in the form āth (which is frequent also in stems ל״א‎ §74g), or with the Pathaḥ weakened to vocal Š^ewâ before the pleonastic ending ־ָה‎, e.g. גָּֽלְתָה‎ §75i. In Ezekiel 31:5 the Aramaic form גָּֽבְהָא‎ occurs instead of גָּֽבְהָה‎.

2nd masc. תָּה‎ for תָּ‎ (differing only orthographically), e.g. בָּגַ֫דְתָּה‎ thou hast dealt treacherously, Malachi 2:14; cf. 1 Samuel 15:3, Genesis 3:12 (נָתַ֫תָּה‎ which is twice as common as נָתַ֫תָּ‎, cf. §66h); Genesis 21:23, 2 Samuel 2:26, 2 Kings 9:3, Isaiah 2:6, Psalms 56:9 (so also in Hiphʿil; 2 Kings 9:7, Isaiah 37:23, Psalms 60:4).

2nd fem. has sometimes a Yodh at the end, as in הָלָ֑כְתְּי‎ thou wentest, Jeremiah 31:21; cf. Jeremiah 2:33, Jeremiah 3:45, Jeremiah 4:19 (but read the ptcp. שֹׁמַ֫עַת‎, with the LXX, instead of the 2nd fem.),Jeremiah 46:11, and so commonly in Jeremiah, and Ez (Ezekiel 16:18, &c.); see also Micah 4:13, Ruth 3:34. הָלַ֫כְתִּי‎, &c., is really intended, for the vowel signs in the text belong to the marginal reading הָלַכְתְּ‎ (without י‎)^[4] as in the corresponding pronoun אַתְּי‎ (אַתִּי‎) §32h. The ordinary form has rejected the final i, but it regularly reappears when pronominal suffixes are added (§59a, c).

1st pers. comm. sometimes without Yodh, as יָדַ֫עְתִּ‎ Psalms 140:13, Job 42:2, 1 Kings 8:48, Ezekiel 16:59 (all in K^ethîbh), Psalms 16:2, without a Q^erê; in 2 Kings 18:20 also אָמַ֫רְתִּ‎ is really intended, as appears from Isaiah 36:5. The Q^erê requires the ordinary form, to which the vowels of the text properly belong, whilst the K^ethîbh is probably to be regarded as the remains of an earlier orthography, which omitted vowel-letters even at the end of the word.

תֶן‎ as the termination of the 2nd plur. m. for תֶם‎ Ezekiel 33:26, might just possibly be due to the following ת‎ (cf., for an analogous case, Micah 3:12, §87e), but is probably a copyist’s error. Plur. 2nd fem. in -תֶּ֫נָה‎ (according to others -תֶּ֫נָּה‎) Amos 4:3, but the reading is very doubtful; since ה‎ follows, it is perhaps merely due to dittography; cf., however, אַתֵּ֫נָה‎ §32i.

3rd plur. comm. has three times the very strange termination וּן‎^[5]; יָֽדְעוּן‎ Deuteronomy 8:316 (both before א‎, and hence, no doubt, if the text is correct, to avoid a hiatus), and in the still more doubtful form צָקוּן‎ Isaiah 26:16; on וּן‎ in the Imperf. see §47m; on the affixed א‎ in Joshua 10:24, Isaiah 28:12, see §23i.

It is very doubtful whether, as in most Semitic languages (see §47c, note), the 3rd.fem. plur. in Hebrew was originally distinguished from the 3rd masc. plur. by the termination ־ָה‎, as in Biblical Aramaic. Nöldeke (ZDMG. 38 [1884], p. 411) referred doubtfully to the textual readings in Deuteronomy 21:7, Joshua 15:4, Joshua 18:121419, Jeremiah 2:15, Jeremiah 22:6, where the Masora uniformly inserts the termination û, and to Genesis 48:10 in the Samaritan Pentateuch, Genesis 49:22, 1 Samuel 4:15, Psalms 18:35, Nehemiah 13:10. In his Beiträge zur sem. Sprachwiss., p. 19, however, he observes that the construction of a fem. plural with the 3rd sing. fem. is not unexampled, and also that ה‎ is often found as a mistake for ו‎. On the other hand Mayer Lambert (Une série de Qeré ketib, Paris, 1891, p. 6 ff.) explains all these K^ethîbh, as well as Psalms 73:2, Jeremiah 50:6 (?), and (against Nöldeke) 1 Kings 22:49 (where ה‎ is undoubtedly the article belonging to the next word), Job 16:16 (where the masc. פָּנַי‎ requires the marginal reading), also Jeremiah 48:41, Jeremiah 51:56, Ezekiel 26:2, Psalms 68:14, as remains of the 3rd fem. plur. in ־ָה‎. The form was abandoned as being indistinguishable from the (later) form of the 3rd fem. sing., but tended to be retained in the perfect of verbs ל״ה‎, as היה‎ K^ethîbh six times in the above examples.

5. The afformatives תָּ‎, (תְּ)‎, תִּי‎, נוּ‎ are generally toneless, and the forms with these inflexions are consequently Milʿêl (קָטַ֫לְתָּ‎, &c.); with all the other afformatives they are Milraʿ (§15c). The place of the tone may, however, be shifted: (a) by the pause (§29i–v), whenever a vowel which has become vocal Š^ewâ under the second stem-consonant is restored by the pause; as קָטָ֫לָה‎ for קָֽטְלָ֫ה‎ (דָּבֵ֫קָה‎ for דָּֽבְקָ֫ה‎), and קָטָ֫לוּ‎ for קָֽטְל֫וּ‎ (מָלֵ֫אוּ‎ for מָֽלְא֫וּ‎; (b) in certain cases after wāw consecutive of the Perfect (see §49h).

6. Contraction of a final ת‎ with the ת‎ of the afformative occurs e.g. in כָּרַ֫תִּי‎ Haggai 2:5, &c.; cf. Isaiah 14:20, &c., in the Perf. Poʿel; Deuteronomy 4:25 in the Hiphʿîl of שׁחת‎; Isaiah 21:2, &c., in the Hiphʿîl of שׁבת‎. Contraction of a final נ‍‎ with the afformative נוּ‎ occurs in נָתַ֫נּוּ‎ Genesis 34:16; in Niph. Ezra 9:7, cf. 2 Chronicles 14:10; in Hiph. 2 Chronicles 29:19; with the afformative נָה‎ in the Imperfect Qal Ezekiel 17:23; Piʿēl Psalms 71:23, where with Baer and Ginsburg תְּרַנֵּ֫נָּה‎ is to be read, according to others תְּרַנֶּ֫נָּה‎ (cf. in Polel תְּקוֹנֶ֫נָּה‎ Ezekiel 32:16), but certainly not תְּרַנֵּ֫נָה‎ with the Mantua ed., Opitius and Hahn; with נָה‎ in the Imperat. Hiph. Genesis 4:23, Isaiah 32:9.