1. SHEVA AND DAGESH REVIEW

2. Silent or Vocal Sheva? מִלְחָמָה

3. Silent or Vocal Sheva? מִלְחָמָה Silent, it is preceded by a short vowel

4. Silent or Vocal Sheva? יְדַבֵּר

5. Silent or Vocal Sheva? יְדַבֵּר Vocal, it is not preceded by a short vowel. It is beginning a word and a syllable.

6. Silent or Vocal Sheva? תִּכְתֹּ ב.

7. Silent or Vocal Sheva? תִּכְתֹּ ב Silent, it is preceded by a short vowel.

8. Silent or Vocal Sheva? מִשְׁפָּט

9. Silent or Vocal Sheva? מִשְׁפָּט Silent, it is preceded by a short vowel.

10. Silent or Vocal Sheva? הָאְלֹהִי ם ֶ

11. Silent or Vocal Sheva? הָאְלֹהִי ם Vocal, compound sheva are always vocal. ֶ

12. Silent or Vocal Sheva? וַיְבָרֶךְ

13. Silent or Vocal Sheva? וַיְבָרֶךְ יְ is a vocal sheva because it is preceded by a short vowel. ךְ always takes a silent sheva.

14. Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte? יְדַבֵּר

15. Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte? יְדַבֵּר Dagesh forte because it is in a BeGaD KeFaT letter and it is preceded by a vocal

16. Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte? דָּבָר

17. Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte? דָּבָר Dagesh Lene because it is in a BeGaD KeFaT letter and is not preceded by a vowel.

18. Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte? הִנֵּה

19. Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte? הִנֵּה Dagesh Forte, because it is not in a BeGaD KeFaT letter

20. Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte? שִׁבֵּר

21. Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte? שִׁבֵּר Dagesh Forte, because it is in a BeGaD KeFaT letter and is preceded by a vowel

22. Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte? יַרְדֵּן

23. Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte? יַרְדֵּן Dagesh Lene, because it is in a BeGaD KeFaT letter and is preceded by consonant and a silent sheva

24. Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte? יַרְדֵּן Dagesh Lene, because it is in a BeGaD KeFaT letter and is preceded by consonant and a silent sheva

25. Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte? הַמִּדְבָּר

26. Dagesh Lene or Dagesh Forte? הַמִּדְבָּר מִ is a dagesh forte because it is not in a BeGaD KeFaT letter. בָּ is a dagesh lene because it is in a BeGaD KeFat and is preceded by a consonant (silent sheva)

27. ACCENTS AND SYLLABLES

28. Accents The same scholars who supplied Hebrew texts with vowel pointings also devised a system of accent signs and added these to the vocalized text. Every word in the Hebrew Bible, unless joined to the following word by a maqqef, carries a primary accent mark on its tone syllable. Some longer words may receive a secondary accent in addition to the primary accent. In BHS there are 27 prose accents and 21 poetic accents, the latter occurring mainly in the books of Psalms, Job, and Proverbs These accents are about equally divided between those that are written above the word and those that are written below it.

29. The Purpose of Accents They mark the tone syllable (accented syllable) in a word Hebrew accents regulate the chanting of biblical texts in the synagogues Hebrew accents serve as marks of punctuation, showing how sentence structure was perceived at the time the accents were placed in the text.

30. They mark the tone syllable (accented syllable) in a word The tone syllable/ accented syllable will normally be the last syllable in a word, but it also may be the next to last. Kelley does not print the Hebrew accent signs, but if there are words accented on any syllable other than the final syllable they are marked with the munah accent. אָלֶףדָּלֶת

31. They mark the tone syllable (accented syllable) in a word If the word appears without a munah, it can be assumed that it is accented on the final syllable. Hebrew words are normally accented on the last syllable אַתָּהדָּוִדמֹשֶׁהיִשְׁרָאֵל

32. Hebrew accents regulate the chanting of biblical texts in the synagogues Remember that synagogue scrolls are left unpointed and the vowels and accents are cited from memory

33. Hebrew accents serve as marks of punctuation, showing how sentence structure was perceived at the time the accents were placed in the text As marks of punctuation, the accents are either: Disjunctive (separating) Conjunctive (joining) They help us to identify the component parts of a Hebrew sentence, and are thus a vital aid to exegesis.

34. Disjunctive Accents There are two major disjunctive accents within each Hebrew verse or sentence They indicate where the two halves of the verse end The accent that marks the end of the first half of the verse is known as the atnah ^ It is placed below the accented syllable of the last word in the first half of the verse, as in

35. Disjunctive Accents It is placed below the accented syllable of the last word in the first half of the verse. 1 בְּרֵאשִׁ ֖ ית בָּרָ ֣ א אֱלֹהִ ֑ ים אֵ ֥ ת הַשָּׁמַ ֖ יִם וְאֵ ֥ ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃

36. Disjunctive Accents The second major disjunctive accent is known as the silluq It is placed below the accented syllable of the last word in the last half of the verse, the word that immediately precedes sof passuq (“end of sentence”)

37. Disjunctive Accents 1 בְּרֵאשִׁ ֖ ית בָּרָ ֣ א אֱלֹהִ ֑ ים אֵ ֥ ת הַשָּׁמַ ֖ יִם וְאֵ ֥ ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ 2 וְהָאָ ֗ רֶץ הָיְתָ ֥ ה תֹ ֙ הוּ ֙ וָבֹ ֔ הוּ וְחֹ ֖ שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ ֣ י תְה ֑ וֹם וְר ֣ וּחַ אֱלֹהִ ֔ ים מְרַחֶ ֖ פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ ֥ י הַמָּֽיִם׃ Note that the two major divisions of a verse are determined not by length but by sense. Thus the two “halves” of a verse may vary greatly in length.

38. Disjunctive Accents 7 וַיַּ ֣ עַשׂ אֱלֹהִים ֮ אֶת־הָרָקִיעַ ֒ וַיַּבְדֵּ ֗ ל בֵּ ֤ ין הַמַּ ֙ יִם ֙ אֲשֶׁר ֙ מִתַּ ֣ חַת לָרָקִ ֔ יעַ וּבֵ ֣ ין הַמַּ ֔ יִם אֲשֶׁ ֖ ר מֵעַ ֣ ל לָרָקִ ֑ יעַ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃

39. In Pause A word marked by either atnah or silluq (as well as certain other strong disjunctive accents) are said to be “in pause” This means that there is a break in recitation at this point. Compare this to the pause that follows commas, semi-colons, and periods in modern languages. A word in pause must have a long vowel in its accented or tone syllable If the vowel of the tone syllable is regularly short, it must be lengthened when placed in pause

40. In Pause Examples Regular Form אְַנִי(I) אֶרֶץ(earth) אַתָּה(you) בַּיִת(house) הֶבֶל(Abel) יַדְעוּ(they know) Pausal Form אָנִי (Jer. 17:18) אָרֶץ (Exod. 15:12) אָתָּה (Isa. 44:17) בָּיִת (1 Chr. 17:12) הָבֶל (Gen. 4:2) יָדָעוּ (Jer. 4:22) ^ ^ ^

41. Meteg Meteg is a secondary accent that sometimes appears in addition to the primary accent in a word. It is made exactly like the silluq, but the two are easily distinguishable, since silluq appears only on the tone/accented syllable of the last word in a verse.

42. Meteg The meteg serves several purposes, of which the following are the most important It is sometimes used to mark long vowels that stand two or more syllables before the tone syllable of a word, in order to insure that these long vowels are given proper stress in pronunciation.

43. לְמִינֵהֶם (“to their kinds”-Gen. 1:20) הָרֹמֶשֶׂת (“that moves”-Gen. 1:21)

44. Meteg The meteg serves several purposes, of which the following are the most important It is sometimes used to mark long vowels that stand two or more syllables before the tone syllable of a word, in order to insure that these long vowels are given proper stress in pronunciation. It is often used with short vowels that stand immediately before compound shevas.

45. נַעְַשֶׂה (“Let us make”-Gen. 1:26) תַּעְַבֹד (“You shall labor”-Exod. 20:9)

46. Meteg The meteg serves several purposes, of which the following are the most important It is sometimes used to mark long vowels that stand two or more syllables before the tone syllable of a word, in order to insure that these long vowels are given proper stress in pronunciation. It is often used with short vowels that stand immediately before compound shevas. It may also be used with either long or short vowels that stand immediately before simple (vocal) shevas.

47. וְחַיְתוֹ (“and beasts of”-Gen. 1:24) יָלְדָה (“she bore”-Gen. 4:22)

48. Meteg The meteg serves several purposes, of which the following are the most important It is sometimes used to mark long vowels that stand two or more syllables before the tone syllable of a word, in order to insure that these long vowels are given proper stress in pronunciation. It is often used with short vowels that stand immediately before compound shevas. It may also be used with either long or short vowels that stand immediately before simple (vocal) shevas. It may also be used with unchangeably long vowels that stand before a maqqef.

49. פְּנֵי־הָאְַדָמָה (“face of the earth”-Gen. 2:6) בֵּית־אֵל (“Bethel”-Gen. 12:8)

50. Weak Letters א and ה function as regular consonants at the beginning of syllables. At the end of syllables they sometimes become quiescent (silent), losing their consonantal values and remaining only as vowel letters (matres lectionis). When this occurs, neither אor ה is able to close the syllable. א is always quiescent at the end of a syllable, whether in the middle of a word or at the end of a word. ה is quiescent only when it stands as the consonant that ends a word.

51. בְּרֵאשִׁית (“in the beginning”-Gen. 1:1) הָיְתָה (“was”-Gen. 1:2)

52. Mappiq A mappiq is a dot that can be inserted in a final ה (הּ) to signal to the reader that it is a consonant, and not simply a vowel letter. Final ה with a mappiq (הּ) is considered to be a strong guttural, in the same class with חand ע. It therefore closes the syllable in which it stands.

53. וַיִּגְבַּהּ (“he was taller”-1 Sam. 10:23) לְמִינָהּ (“according to their kinds”-Gen. 1:25)

54. Syllables Every consonant in a Hebrew word, with the exception of final consonants and of אwhen it stands at the end of a syllable or is otherwise quiescent, must be followed by a vowel sound or by a by a silent sheva. A consonant + A Vocalization Mark CvCvCv The vowel sound may be either a full vowel or a half-vowel. The half-vowel may be either simple (a sheva) or compound.

55. בְּרֵאשִׁית (“in the beginning”-Gen. 1:1) א is quiescent at the end of the syllable and there has no vowel or silent sheva following it. ת is final and likewise has no vowel or silent sheva. The three remaining consonants all have vowel sounds following them

56. אֶלֹהִים (“God”-Gen. 1:1) The first three consonants have vowel sounds following them. Final םstands alone, without a vowel or silent sheva. ְ

57. וַיַּבְדֵּל (“and separated”-Gen. 1:4) This contains 5 consonants, three vowels, and a silent sheva (syllable divider). The sheva under the ב has to be silent because it is followed by a BeGaD KeFaT letter with a dagesh lene (דּ). So each of the letters except the final letter is supported by either a vowel or a syllable divider. Note: the dagesh in the yod here is not a dagesh forte! It belongs with the vav that precedes it. This is a peculiarity with this type of verb which we will discuss later.

58. Syllables All syllables in a Hebrew word must begin with a consonant, which may be any consonant in the alphabet. The one seeming except to this rule occurs when a word begins with the vowel וּ, as in וּבֵין(“and from”- Gen. 1:4). Some grammarians argue that even this is not a true exception, but that the ו in an initial וּ may be regarded as functioning in a dual capacity, both as a consonant and as a vowel, i.e., both as a vav and as a shureq.

59. Syllables A Hebrew syllable must include one (and only one) full vowel. However, in addition to a full vowel, it may also contain a half-vowel (simple or compound sheva), in which case the half-vowel will stand beneath the consonant that begins the syllable. The number of syllables in a word is determined by the number of full vowels in that word, irrespective of the number of half-vowels that may be present.

60. בְּרֵאשִׁית (“in the beginning”-Gen. 1:1) This word has two full vowels, and thus two syllables. It also has a vocal sheva (a vocalization marker), which stands underneath the consonant that begins the first syllable.

61. אֶלֹהִים (“God”-Gen. 1:1) This word has two full vowels and therefore two syllables. The half-vowel under א does not constitute a separate syllable but attaches itself to the first syllable of the word. ְ

62. Open and Closed Syllables Hebrew syllables are classified as either open or closed. Cv CvC An open syllable ends in: A vowel The vowel in an open syllable will normally be long. However, it may be short if it is accented or if it is followed by a consonant that is supported by a vocal sheva. A Quiescent Letter י ו ה א These letters occasionally lose their normal consonantal character and coalesce with the preceding vowel They will not have their own vocalization

63. Open and Closed Syllables A closed syllable is one that ends in a consonant. Whenever a dagesh forte occurs in a letter, that letter is doubled, and the preceding syllable is always closed. The vowel in a closed syllable will normally be short, but it may be long if it is accented.

64. בְּרֵאשִׁית (“in the beginning”-Gen. 1:1) The first syllable is open, because it ends in א, and אnever closes a syllable. The second syllable ends in ת and is closed. A final consonant that closes a syllable does not require a syllable divider (silent sheva), except in the case of the final kaf (ךְ) CO

65. הַשָּׁמַיִם (“the heavens”) There are four vowels in this word, which indicates that there are four syllables. שּׁ is written with a dagesh forte, which indicates that it is doubled. The first syllable is therefore הַשׁ. It ends in a consonant, thus making it a closed syllable. The vowel is short, since it stands in an unaccented closed syllable. C

66. הַשָּׁמַיִם (“the heavens”) The second syllable is שָׁ. It ends in a vowel, and is therefore an open syllable. The vowel is long, which is what one would expect in an unaccented open syllable. In an unaccented closed syllable the qames( ָ ) must be a qames-hatuf (short o) C O

67. הַשָּׁמַיִם (“the heavens”) The third syllable is מַ This is an open syllable with a short vowel. The short vowel is not what one would expect in an open syllable but it is explained by the fact that the syllable is accented. C O O

68. הַשָּׁמַיִם (“the heavens”) The final syllable is יִם, a closed, unaccented syllable with a short vowel. Don’t confuse יִ with ִי In the first one, yod is a regular consonant followed by a hireq. In the second, yod follows hireq and combines with it to form an unchangeable long vowel, hireq-yod. C O O C

69. יָלְדָה Two full vowels indicate two syllables The sheva under ל is a vocal sheva, as determined by the meteg on the vowel before it and also by the absence of a dagesh lene in the ד that follows it. The first syllable is יָ, an open syllable with a long vowel, which requires a meteg since it is followed by a vocal sheva. In an unaccented closed syllable the qames( ָ ) must be a qames-hatuf (short o) O

70. יָלְדָה The second syllable is לְדָה, which includes a vocal sheva under ל and a full vowel under ד. It is an open syllable, since ה never closes the syllable at the end of a word, unless it carries a mappiq (הּ) The second syllable is the tone syllable and has a long vowel. In an unaccented closed syllable the qames( ָ ) must be a qames-hatuf (short o) OO

71. נַעְַשֶׂה Two full vowels again indicate two syllables. Since compound shevas are always vocal, the division into syllables must come between נ and עְַ. The first syllable is נַ, and open syllable with a short vowel which requires a meteg since it precedes a vocal sheva. Although a short vowel does not ordinarily occur in an open syllable, it may do so if it is followed by a consonant with a vocal sheva. The second syllable is עְַשֶׂה. It too is open, since final ה without a mappiq never closes a syllable. The vowel is short, but this is permitted in an open syllable that serves as the tone syllable of the word. OO

72. Hebrew Syllables in Relation to the Tone Syllable Near Open An open syllable (ending with vocalization) A near open syllable is: An open syllable immediately to the right or to the left of the tone syllable There can be no more that now near open syllables in any Hebrew word נִקְבְּצוּ מָצָאתִי >

73. Hebrew Syllables in Relation to the Tone Syllable Distant Open An open syllable (ending with vocalization) A distant open syllable is: Any open syllable that is neither to the immediate right nor to the immediate left of the tone syllable, i.e. any open syllable that is at least one syllable removed from the tone syllable in either direction There may be many distant open syllables in any Hebrew word אוֹצְרֹתָם לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָמ

74. Unaccented Closed Syllables A closed syllable, i.e., CvC ( a syllable ending with a consonant) Unaccented, i.e. any closed syllable that does not bear the primary accent for the word שֻׁלְחָן

75. חָכְמָה