An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
5.6 Patterns with Prefixing
הרֹכ ָ בְּ right of the first-born
ה ָלּאֻ ְגּ right of redemption
ה ָשּׁ רְי ֻ possession
ה ָלּג ֻ סְ private purse
ה ָבּר ֻ ֲע security, pledge
ה ָלּ ֻע ְפּ wages, reward
הדָּ גֻ אֲ band, troop
הדָּ בֻ ֲע (a body of) slaves
הדָּ קֻ ְפּ governing authorities
a Biblical Hebrew employs a variety of prefixes that serve to modify the meaning
of the roots. Most of the prefixes are elements used in both nominal and verbal
patterns, including ˒, h, y, m, t, and ˓. Stanley Gevirtz has argued that “what these
appear to have in common with each other is a deictic, demonstrative, defining or
specifying force.” 22 Not all the prefixes are equally common or important.
b The most common prefix is m, used in substantives of location (## 1–3),
instrument terms (## 4–5), and abstractions (## 6–9).
1.
ר ָבּד ְמ
ִ range, steppe
2.
3.
4. ַ
5. ֫
6.
7.
8.
9.
םוֹק ָמ place
ב ָשׁוֹמ assembly (< yšb)
חתֵּ ְפ ַמ key
תל ֶ ֶכאֲ ַמ knife (fem.)
ט ָפּ ְשׁ מ ִ judgment
האֶ רְ ַמ appearance
האָ רְ ַמ vision (fem.)
ה ָכלָ ְמ ַמ kingdom, reign (fem.)
22 S. Gevirtz, “Formative ע in Biblical Hebrew,” Eretz-Israel 16 (1982) 57*-66*, at
62*. This group of elements may be called the affixional subset of the sounds of the
language; see M. O’Connor, “The Rhetoric of the Kilamuwa Inscription,” Bulletin of
the American Schools of Oriental Research 226 (1977) 15–29, at 16–17, in a
discussion of alliteration. For a treatment of this class of sounds in Classical Greek,
see E. D. Floyd, “Levels of Phonological Restriction in Greek Affixes,” Bono Homini
Donum: Essays in Historical Linguistics in Memory of J. Alexander Kerns, ed. Y. L.
Arbeitman and A. R. Bomhard (Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1981), 1. 87–106; a
comparable study for Hebrew is needed.