B-Hebrew: The Biblical Hebrew Forum

Hi Jonathan,

without talking about the syntax - that is less important for now (IMO)

Just a few things about the grammar:

1. וָיַבִּיא
When you want to write the Hiphil of root בוא after the conversive Vav, it comes in its short form ו+יבא
וַיָּבֵא

2. אֶת־הָעִיר הַזֶּה
the word עיר is feminine so:
הזאת (instead of הזה)

3. הֲנָתַתָּ אֶת־הָעִיר הַזֶּה אֶל־יַדִּי
There is a term that always repeats itself and that is to give in someone's hand - and that is in Hebrew נתן ביד
there is always ב before the word יד
so - הֲנָתַתָּ אֶת־הָעִיר הַזֹּאת בְּיָדִי

4. נִלְחֲמִי
I guess you wanted to write נלחמתי

5. and about the vowels:
יָדִי
עָלֶיהָ

Jonathan Beck wrote:

Hidden Text

וָיַבִּיא דָוִד אֶת־הַכֹּהָנִים וַיִּשְׁאַל בַּיהוה לֵאמֹר הֲנָתַתָּ אֶת־הָעִיר הַזֶּה אֶל־יַדִּי כָאֲשֶׁר נִלְחֲמִי עַלֶיהָ

ויביא is from the root בו״א. There is no assimilation into the first root letter, so we have an open syllable before it: וַיָּבִיא. This happens with all hollow verbs (though they don't all take vav-consecutive in this way; see וַיָּ֫בֶן "and he understood," for example). Weingreen was trying to get us to use וַיַּגֵּשׁ, though (to contrast with the previous וַיִּגַּשׁ).

The vowel under the internal heh in הכהנים should be reduced (הֲ). (And the exercise said "the priest," not "the priests." )

The verb נתן should be in the imperfect.

The noun עיר is feminine.

The noun ידי doesn't have a doubled yod. It should be יָדִי, but also note that after נתן, it should have the preposition בְּ־ (we saw this above in the verse "deliver your enemies into your hand").

כְּ + אֲשֶׁר > *כְּאֲשֶׁר > כַּאֲשֶׁר (patach in first syllable)

"I shall fight" should also be in the imperfect. There's no room in the כאשר clause for an infinitive construct or anything else.

עָלֶיהָ has the first syllable open, so it has to have a long vowel.

My attempt at the next one:

Hidden Text

ראה יעקוב את רחל ויגש אליה ויאמר בת מי את ותאמר אליו בת לבן ויגד יעקוב לה כי בן אחות אביה

רָאָה יַעֲקוֹב אֶת־רָחֵל וַיִּגַּשׁ אֵלֶיהָ וְיֹּאמֶר בַּת־מִי אַתְּ וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו בַּת־לָבָן וַיַּגֵּד יַעֲקוֹב לָהּ כִּי בֶן אֲחֹות אָבִיהָ

Hi Ste Walch,

Basically thee is not much to say
but just a few tiny things:

the sentence should be ended with the word הוא (he)
"Jacob told her that *he is* the son of her father's sister"
(and you wrote "and Jacob told her that her father's sister)

And with that, it would be nicer is you also add the word אנכי (I am) after בת לבן
So it would be like "I am the daughter of Laban"
(instead of just answering "the daughter of Laban)
(but that is optional).

*****
it is also better of nicer to say ויגד לה יעקב (instead of ויגד יעקב לה)

*
And last thing - you wrote יעקוב - but the name is יעקב
ויאמר - the Vav with Patah'

Jason Hare wrote: ויביא is from the root בו״א. There is no assimilation into the first root letter, so we have an open syllable before it: וַיָּבִיא.

Hi Jason, I think that because you explained about the vowel in the letter Yod, you didn't notice that you kept the form of ויביא instead of changing it to ויבא.

Actually, ducky, no.... I was mistaken completely in thinking that it kept the chirik-yod in the vayyiqtol form! It actually goes to tsere (וַיָּבֵא)! I remembered there being a difference, but that difference is the way in which it doesn't shift the stress.

ducky wrote:the sentence should be ended with the word הוא (he)
"Jacob told her that *he is* the son of her father's sister"
(and you wrote "and Jacob told her that her father's sister)

And with that, it would be nicer is you also add the word אנכי (I am) after בת לבן
So it would be like "I am the daughter of Laban"
(instead of just answering "the daughter of Laban)
(but that is optional).

*****
it is also better of nicer to say ויגד לה יעקב (instead of ויגד יעקב לה)

Cheers as usual, David

And last thing - you wrote יעקוב - but the name is יעקב

I did this very much on purpose; bringing out the main spelling of "Jacob" seen in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

You can also see this spelling a few times even in the Masoretic Text; Lev. 26:42; Jer. 30:18; 33:26; 46:27; 51:19.

Hi Ste Walch, and thanks.

sometimes יעקב is written as יעקוב (rare),
and another example is דוד written as דויד (mostly in the late books, but also rarely in Kings as well).

anyway, it is better to use the classic and common way of the spelling and not go to the rare ones.

As for the DDS spelling, they used a "long spelling" as a method. Not just in names but also in (almost) every word which has the i/o/u vowels. So there is no need to use that as a source for the "grammatical" spelling.

Yeah, even today we use the shorter forms דָּוִד and יַעֲקֹב in modern Hebrew.

Here is mine for #7.

Hidden Text

וַיַּרְא יַעֲקֹב אֶת־רָחֵל וַיִּגַּשׁ אֵלֶיהָ וַיֹּאמֶר הֲבַּת לְמִי אַתְּ וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אַנִי הַבַּת־לָבָן וַיְדַבֵּר לָהּ יַעֲקוֹב כִּי הוּא הַבֵּן הָאָחוֹת אָבִיהָ׃