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(OTCL) An Unofficial Answer Key to Weingreen’s A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew
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(OTCL) An Unofficial Answer Key to Weingreen’s A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew
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An Uno cial Answer Key to Weingreen’s A Practical Grammar for Classical HebrewJason Hare
The Hebrew Café
www.thehebrewcafe.com
Introduction
Jacob Weingreen’s A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew, rst published in 1955, served for
half a century as the standard text used in seminaries and colleges to introduce students to the
language of the Hebrew Bible. Though it has since been replaced by more modern approaches to
language instruction, it still serves as a beloved beginners textbook, and people are still taking
advantage of its thorough treatment of the language as a springboard from which to learn biblical
Hebrew. No o cial key to the text was ever published, and given the fact that many today use this
grammar for self-study rather than for in-class instruction, the need for a key is greater now than
ever. My goal in preparing this key is to o er direction to those who are learning on their own and
need some help to understand what’s happening in a given exercise. It should be clear that these
answers are my personal approach to the exercises and that others are possible. Speci cally with
regard to word order (see below), but also with regard to the attachment of object su xes to verb
forms. It is equivalent to write ְל ָקחוֹand ָל ַקח אֹתוֹfor “he took him/it.” As long as your answer is
grammatically feasible, you shouldn’t think that the answers provided here are necessarily better. I
have not always indicated when more than one answer is possible.
Just a couple of notes before getting into the text itself.
First, it will be noticed that in the English translations, I have rendered the Tetragrammaton
( )יהוהwith Yahweh in English. This is a compromise intended to remind students that this is an
instance of the actual name used for God in the Bible and not simply a title. Similarly, in Hebrew I
have written the name as with the vowel points sheva-kamats as – יְ הוָ הthe way it is found pointed
in the Aleppo and Leningrad Codices. I personally think that the proposed יַ ְהוֶ הYahveh or יַ ֲהוֶ ה
Yahăveh represents how the name was pronounced in antiquity, but we cannot be certain of this
question. For that reason, I have remained with the Hebrew pointing tradition, even though I have
rendered it in English as indicated. The traditional Jewish approach is to read יהוהas “ ֲאד ֹנָ יthe
Lord” except in the combinations ֲאד ֹנָ י יְ הוִֹ הand יְ הוִֹ ה ֲאד ֹנָ י, in which יְ הוִֹ הis read as ֱא ִהיםto avoid
saying ʾăḏōnāy ʾăḏōnāy. In these instances, the ḥirik under the vav represents the ḥirik in ֱא ִהים,
telling us that this is the word to be substituted for the Tetragrammaton (whereas the kamaṣ under
the vav in the normal form is the kamaṣ of ) ֲאד ֹנָ י.
It should be remembered that the form יְ הוָ הis arrived at by copying the vowels of ֲאדנָ יin
the same way that יְ הוִֹ הcopies the vowels of ֱא ִהים. By this principle, composite shevas are both
rendered as a simple sheva when copied ( יְ → ֱאand )יְ → ֲא, and the ḥolam is normally not written
on ֲאד ֹנָ יin the Aleppo Codex when it is used of God—hence, the ḥolam that is missing from the
Tetragrammaton. Just as we do not think that יְ הוִֹ הshould be read Yəhōvih, so do we resist those
who say that יְ הוָֹ הshould be read as Yəhōvâ.
Second, I have followed the subject-verb (SV) word order in sentences that have no context
and are not part of a vayyiqṭōl chain (narrative past). Inversion has been used after grammar words
Send any corrections to jason@thehebrewcafe.com. Updated November 23, 2023
,such as ִכּיand ֲא ֶשׁרas well as in other situations pointed out in articles written by John Cook and
Robert Holmstedt in their work on Hebrew word order. Students should take into account that
most grammars (including Weingreen’s) teach that Hebrew has a natural verb-subject (VS) word
order, yet that is in contention. Although Weingreen’s Hebrew-to-English exercises exhibit this
word order, and it “feels right” to those who spend a lot of time reading the Bible (because the
majority of sentences begin with a vav-consecutive), it has been well demonstrated that this is not
the natural order with unmarked sentences—that is, sentences that do not have some kind of
inversion trigger. This sets this key out among others that might be produced, but I believe that it is
the right way to approach Hebrew syntax, and I believe that further research in the eld will bear
this out.
Additionally, any word that appears at the end of the line in brackets just behind the same
word with an alternate pointing, it is due to pause. For example, []מ ְצ ַ ֫ריִ ם ִ ִמ ְצ ָ ֫ריִ םindicates that the
rst form would appear at the end of a verse with sof pasuk ( ) ִמ ְצ ָ ֽריִ ם׃or with other pause-creating
accents (for example, ִמ ְצ ָ ֑ריִ םor ) ִמ ְצ ָ ֔ריִ םand the second would appear as the normal form in the
Bible. This is to provide an alternative for those who are translating with pausal forms in their work.
When it comes to the transliteration, I have used Weingreen’s system for the most part, but
I use the breve (˘) for composite sheva (ă for ◌ֲ , ĕ for ◌ֱ , and ŏ for ◌ֳ ). Likewise, I use ə for vocal sheva.
Thus, ֲאנָ ִשׁיםis transliterated as ʾănāšîm, ֱא ִהיםas ʾĕlōhîm, ֳח ָד ִשׁיםas ḥŏḏāšîm, and הוּדה ָ ְ יas Yəhûḏâ.
This is di erent from Weingreen’s system, and I’ve included it here so that you can recognize it.
Overall, the transliteration systems are the same. To distinguish between ֵ◌יand ֶ◌יI have added a
cedilla to represent segol (ȩ̂ = ֶ◌יand ê = ) ֵ◌י, but normal segol will still be represented by a simple e.
I would be more than happy to receive corrections as this comes out. It is a work in progress
being published online at thehebrewcafe.com/uploads/pdf/weingreen-key.pdf. Thank you for any
support that you might give in providing the best possible key for future students of the Hebrew
language who might come to this text with eagerness.
Jason A. Hare
The Hebrew Café
Tel Aviv, Israel
MMXXIII תשפ״ג
,Page 6
šā-ma-yim wā-ʾā-reṣ wî-hî kô-ḵāḇ mî-nē-hû yā-mîm rō-me-śeṯ kā-nāp̄ ʿē-zer
qēṣ bā-śār tē-ḇaṯ ḥā-mās qe-ḏem ḥā-mēš šā-nîm wā-ʿe-śer tē-lēḏ zā-ḵār
yā-qūm ʿā-śû mô-ʿēḏ būṣ ḥā-ḏal yi-ḥar ʿe-reḇ bō-qer hô-ṣî-ʾēm
de-leṯ šā-p̄ôṭ ʾû-ḵal ya-yin mē-ṯî rā-ʾî-ṯā mā-qôm yē-ʿā-śû ʾē-šeṯ
ba-ʿal yî-raš ta-ḥaṯ ʾa-yil yē-ʾā-mēr yēš mi-ḥûṣ lā-ʿîr śā-ḏē-hû
gā-māl lā-ḇān
מוֹתי ָלמוּת ָשׂם יוֹם ֵהן ַאל ַﬠל גַּ ד ִ מוֹת
ָפּ ִרים ִלי לוּז ֵכּן וָ נָ ד קוּם ַטל ִשׂים נָ זִ יד
יוֹסף ָאנ ִֹכי ָר ֵחל ַפּ ַﬠם ָל ֶכם ַﬠם ֵ תּוֹר
קוֹלי ָפּרוֹת וָ א ַֹמר ִ ָה ָא ָדם ֵלוִ י בּוֹר ֶפּ ֶרץ
נָ בוֹן ֶשׁ ֶבר ָה ִשׁיב לוֹ יָ ִדי ֵכּנִ ים ָח ַלם
ָה ַרג יָ ָדם ֶכּ ֶסף ֶﬠ ֶבד ִאתּוֹ ֶﬠ ֶשׂר נֶ ֶפשׁ
סוּסים ַתּם ִ יתי ֶל ֶחם ִ ִָהבוּ נָ ַתן ָקנ
Page 11
dəḇar dōḇərê yardēn ʾištô mamlếḵeṯ bārûḵ miḏbār ʿăḇāḏîm
ʾĕlōhîm ʾăḇî môšəḇôṯ miṣráyim yišbərû ʿaḇdəḵā mahărû
bərîṯəḵā ʾaḇrāhām yiṣḥāq yaʿăqōḇ halləḇānôn yulləḏû kōhănîm məlōḵ
ʿamməḵā hišḥîṯ ʾep̄ráyim ʿinnəbê malkəḵem vəʾāmartā ʾălêhem
bəṯôḵ laʿăḇōr ʾeṣləḵā ʾănáḥnû ḥarbô ḥăsāḏîm miššəmûʾēl
gulgṓleṯ məyalləḏôṯ ʿelyôn ḥălôm nəšêhem ʾĕḏôm śámtî
pəlištîm tôləḏôṯ
יאים ִ ְבּנוֹת ְדּ ָב ִרים ֶח ְבר ֹן ִבּנְ יָ ִמין ֲא ָדמוֹת נְ ִב
נִ ְשׁ ְמרוּ ִה ְשׁ ִכּים ְק ַט ְל ֶתּם ֱאמֹר ַתּ ֲﬠבֹד ַדּ ְר ְכּ
ִמ ְצ ִרים ז ְֹב ֵחי ֶבּ ֱא ֶמת יַ ְב ֵדּל מ ְֹתרוֹת נַ ְפ ִשׁי
ֻא ְמ ַלל ְל ַמ ְל ִכּי יִ ְת ַה ְלּכוּן ִתּ ְשׁ ְמ ֵרם ִמ ְשׁ ְפּ ִטי יִ ְכ ְרעוּ
ַבּ ְקּשׁוּ ִמ ְשׁ ֲאלוֹת
Pages 13–14
wayyām ́ oṯ ʿormâ ʾĕmor-nāʾ ḥoḵmāṯô dəbārəḵā qoḏqōḏ šāmāŕ tî bāqār
ʿonyēḵ šəmartām šomʿô yāroḇʿām moṯnáyim nāp̄əlâ kəḏorlāʿṓmer dāməḵā
lāý lâ goḏləḵā miryām yiḵtoḇ-šām ʾoznêhem yəḇārəḵû miḏbār lārəʾûḇēnî
kəṯop̄śəḵem rāʿāḇ gop̄rîṯ kol-hāʾāŕ eṣ šəmor-lî piryām koṯnôṯ
heḥāḵām
, Page 26 — Exercise 1
1. a king, the king
2. a day, the day1
3. a night, the night1
4. light, the light
5. a city, the city
6. a head, the head
7. darkness, the darkness
8. a palace, the palace
9. dust, the dust
10. the day and the night
11. the light and the darkness
12. a king and a man, the king and the man
13. land and dust, the land and the dust
14. a city and a palace, the city and the palace
15. God created a man from the ground.
16. The king came from the temple.
17. God said to the man.
18. And the king came unto the city.
19. God created light from the darkness.
ַה ֫ ַלּיְ ָלה,֫ ַליְ ָלה .1
ַהיּוֹם,יוֹם .2
ָ ֽה ָא ָדם,ָא ָדם .3
ָ ֽה ֱא ִהים,ֱא ִהים .4
ָ ֽה ֲא ָד ָמה,ֲא ָד ָמה .5
יכל ָ ַ ֽה ֵה,יכלָ ֵה .6
ַה ֫חֹ ֶשׁ, ֫חֹ ֶשׁ .7
ֶ ֽה ָﬠ ָפר,ָﬠ ָפר .8
ֱא ִהים וְ ַה ֶמּ ֶל .9
יכל וְ ָה ִﬠיר ָ ַ ֽה ֵה .10
ָ ֽה ָא ָדם וְ ָ ֽה ֲא ָד ָמה .11
ַה ֫חֹ ֶשׁ וְ ָהאוֹר .12
ֽ ָ ָא ָדם ִמ2[ָבּ ָרא ]יָ ַצר
ן־ה ֲא ָד ָמה .13
ל־ה ֶ֫מּ ֶל
ַ ֱא ִהים ָא ַמר ֶא .14
1
The expression ַהיּוֹםhayyôm can also be rendered “today,” and ַה ַלּיְ ָלהhalláylâ in the second exercise can be
rendered “tonight.” This will be understood from the context. The same can happen with ַהבֹּ ֶקרhabbṓqer “this
morning” and ָה ֫ ֶﬠ ֶרבhāʿéreḇ “this evening.”
2
Both ָבּ ָראbārāʾ and יָ ַצרyāṣar can be used for “he created.” It is sometimes said, though not necessarily correctly,
that ָבּ ָראrefers to creatio ex nihilo and that יָ ַצרyāṣar refers to fashioning out of something that already existed.
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