Reading Genesis 1-2 in Hebrew - Bibal.Net

Reading Genesis 1–2 in Hebrew
appears here in apposition to the noun phrase hCƒyAx Hepen (literally: “soul of life,” i.e., “a living,
breathing being”).
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��π‘������������‘�������������������—transliteration:
w¸-vÙµp y¸-vÙ-pEµp val-hA-'Aµ-rec
val-P¸-n µ r¸-qÓµ-av haH-HA-maµ-yim, “and the birds, let them fly above the earth and across the
dome of the sky.” The wau-conjunction is prefixed to the masc. collective noun •Ùv (“flying
creatures, birds”). The verbal form ��������
is the Polel (the form that hollow verbs often take in
place of the Piel) imperfect 3 rd sg. masc. with a jussive sense from the root •wv (“fly”). The two
uses of the preposition lv here illustrate the fact that Hebrew prepositions have a range of
meaning that does not always correspond to a single meaning in English: ��������‘���
(“upon the
earth”) and y≈nK⁄p-lav (“on the face of,” or “across”) the dome of the sky (cf. 1:17 and 1:6 above).
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������‘��ƒ���„ ���������û•œ•�����������������ƒ���‹�‘��ƒ�����������
��������
�����œ•��—transliteration: way-yib-rAµ' 'È-lO-hÓµm 'et-haT-Tan-nÓ-nϵm
haG-G¸-dO-lÓµm, “and Elohim created the great sea monsters.” The verb �������œ•��
is Qal imperfect
3 rd sg. masc. with wau-conversive from the root 'rb (“create”) with Elohim as subject. Cf. 'ArAq
and 'Ar¯qiy (“call, proclaim”). The pl. masc. noun §yiCnKat (“sea monsters”) is also used for “serpents”
(see Deut 32:33; Ps 91:13, Exod 7:9, 10, 12). Note that the final vowel of this word is written
defectively: £«nñ for £y«nñ . The accentual-stress unit is: definite direct object marker te' (with
maqqEp) + definite article h (with doubling of next consonant) + noun §yiCnKat + plural ending £«nñ.
The adjective lÙdƒCg (“great”) is modified to agree with the preceding noun. Note that this word is
written defectively (i.e., without the wau).
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�������������œ������������‘��ƒ�������—transliteration:
w¸-'Eµt Kol-neµ-peH ha-xay-y‰µ hA-rO-meµ-Wet, “and
every living creature that crawls about.” When the direct object marker -te' is not joined to the
following word by maqqep, the vowel is lengthened. The word before maqqep always loses its
stress and thus takes a short vowel here in Kol (“all, every”), i.e., xAXap qAmAc. The fem. noun
Hepen means “that which breathes, the breathing substance or being” and is often translated as
“soul, life, person.” Used with the fem. noun hCƒyAx (“living thing, animal”) it means a “living being,
creature.” The guttural x acts as though it were doubled after the definite article (virtual
doubling). The verbal form teWemOrAh is Qal participle sg. fem. from the root Wmr (“creep, crawl,
move about”) with the definite article.
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