Lesson 12: Relative Pronouns; אֶת
Vocabulary
| to see | רָאָה |
| who? | מִי |
| dream (m.) | (חֲלוֹם (חֲלוֹמוֹת |
| sky, heaven | שָׁמַיִם |
| blessed | בָּרוּךְ |
| ark, box, vessel | תֵּבָה |
| Moses | מֹשֶׁה |
| Jerusalem | יְרוּשָׁלַיִם |
| Joseph | יוֹסֵף |
| prayer | תְּפִלָּה |
| who, whom | אֲשֶׁר |
| which, that | אֲשֶׁר |
| flood | מַבּוּל |
| people | עַם |
| here is, here are, behold | הִנֵּה |
| God | אֵל, אֱלֹהִים |
| garden | גַּן |
| bread | לֶחֶם |
| rib (f.) | צֵלָע |
| likeness, form | תְּמוּנָה |
The Relative Pronoun אֲשֶׁר
The relative pronoun in Hebrew is אֲשֶׁר. It is used of both animate and inanimate objects. In English we make a distinction and will use “who” for persons and “which” for things. No such distinction is made in Hebrew and אֲשֶׁר covers both possibilities.
The Hebrew Particle אֶת.
The Hebrew particle אֶת is a grammatical marker. It is not translatable. It merely indicates that what follows it is a definite direct object.
So, for instance, in the first verse of the Bible:
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ
Where אֶת merely indicates that “the heavens” הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם and “the earth” הָאָֽרֶץ are grammatically the definite direct objects of “God created” בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים
Reading
Please read pages 97-101 in Biblical Hebrew Step-by-Step.
Exercises
1. Memorize the vocabulary and paradigms.
2. Do the Exercises on pages 101-103.