Reading Genesis 1-2 in Hebrew - Bibal.Net

Reading Genesis 1–2 in Hebrew
hA-'A-dAµm neµ-peH xay-y‰µ h˚µ' H¸-mÙµ, “and whatever the human called it, as a living being, that
(was) its name.” The noun lk (“all”) introduces a relative sentence with reH‹' (particle of
relation). The combination of these two words means “whatever.” The verb here is Qal imperfect
3 rd sg. masc. from the root 'rq (“call”) followed by the preposition l, with the 3 rd sg. masc. suffix
Ù (“it, him”) attached. The l functions as a marker for the direct object. The noun phrase
hCƒyax Hepen (“a living being”) is in apposition to the pronoun '˚h (“he”), which carries the force of
the demonstrative pronoun “that” with the verb “to be” understood. The noun £EH (“name”) has
the 3 rd sg. masc. prominal suffix Ùñ (“its, his”) affixed, which causes the vowel to be reduced to
Õñ. Before the fem. plural affix tÙñ, however, the Eñ is retained.
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������������������������œ•��—transliteration:
way-yiq-rAµ' hA-'A-dAµm HE-mÙµt, “and the human called out
names …” The verb here is Qal imperfect 3 rd sg. masc. with wau-conversive from the root 'rq
(“call”) with £AdA'Ah (“the human”) as subject. tÙmEH is the plural of the masc. noun £EH (“name”).
The accent r¸bÓav on the word ������ is a relatively strong disjunctive.
�����������������������������‘�����—transliteration:
l¸-kol-haB-B¸-hE-m‰µ ˚-l¸-vÙµp haH-HA-maµ-yim, “for
every animal and for every bird of the sky.” In some ways, the two occurrences of l here mark
the direct object of the verb “call” at the beginning of this verse. The vowel of the word lOk (“all,
every”) is shortened to qAmAc xAX˚p (o) before maqqEp. The noun hAmEh–¯b here refers to all
animals. The wau-conjunction before shewa becomes ˚. On the phrase £ymHh •Ùv (“birds of the
sky”) see 1:21.
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See 1:19.
„����—transliteration: ˚-l¸-kOµl xay-yaµt haH-HA-deµh, “and for every animal of the field.”
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— transliteration: ˚-l¸-'A-dAµm lO'-mA-cAµ' vEµ-zer K¸-neg-DÙµ, “and for
Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.” The noun £AdA' (“human”) appears here without
the definite article, which suggests that it is used as a proper name here. The verb is Qal perfect
3 rd sg. masc. with the particle of negation prefixed from the root 'cm (“find”). On the phrase
Ùdg∆n–¯k rezEn (“a helper fit for him”) see 2:18.
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