A brief introduction to the הָפְעַל בִּנְיָן in עִבְרִית מִקְרָאִית.

1. Biblical Hebrew
Getting to Know ‫ הָפְעַל‬Verbs
by Chris Heard

2. Table of Contents
Abbreviations .............................. 3
Getting Ready .............................. 4
Using ‫ הָפְעַל‬Verbs...................... 10
The Basic Patterns .................... 16
Recognizing ‫ הָפְעַל‬Verbs ......... 20
Credits ........................................ 35

3. Abbreviations
1, 2, 3 indicate grammatical person
m, f, c indicate grammatical gender
s, p indicate grammatical number
R1, R2, R3 indicate root letters
3

4. Getting Ready
Before we start getting to
know the ‫ ,הָפְעַל בִּנ+י)ן‬let’s
run a few preflight checks.
4

5. Do you remember how a Hebrew
verb changes to form the various
combinations of person, gender,
and number, as well as perfect
and imperfect?
5

6. Do you know your Masoretic
vowels well enough to
distinguish between the
three classes (a, i, and u)?
6

7. If you answered
“yes,” you’re ready
for the ‫!הָפְעַל בִּנ+י)ן‬
7

8. Remember that certain patterns
can create predictable variations.
This slideshow focuses on core
patterns. It does not illustrate every
possible variation.
8

9. Furthermore, this slideshow
is intended to supplement,
not replace, classroom
instruction and practice.
9

10. Using ‫ הָפְעַל‬Verbs
The ‫ הָפְעַל‬is a fairly infrequent
‫ ,בִּנ+י)ן‬used fewer than 400 times
in the 0‫.תַּנ2״‬
10

11. You can think of the ‫ הָפְעַל‬as the
passive version of the ‫ .הִפְעִיל‬In
other words, the subject of a ‫הָפְעַל‬
verb receives the verb’s action.
11

12. For example, you might say
“‫“ *”,ײ הֵכִין כִּסְאוֹ‬the LORD
established his throne,”
using the ‫ הִפְעִיל‬of ‫.כון‬
* Slightly modified from Psalm 103:19.
12

13. Alternately, you could say
“‫“ *”,הוּכַן כִּסֵּא‬a throne
was established,” using
the ‫ הָפְעַל‬of ‫.כון‬
* Slightly modified from Isaiah 16:5.
13

14. If you know how a ‫ שֹׁ?שׁ‬is
used in the ‫ ,הִפְעִיל‬you can
usually reason to how it is
used in the ‫.הָפְעַל‬
14

15. The most reliable
approach, though, is to
learn how each specific
‫ שֹׁ?שׁ‬is used in the ‫.הָפְעַל‬
15

16. The Basic Patterns
Memorize the following basic
patterns first, and then we’ll
go through the specifics.
16

17. Pattern 1
0ַ‫ שְׁל‬It was thrown (3ms perfect)
ָ‫ה‬
0ַ‫ י שְׁל‬It will be thrown (3ms impf.)
ָ
0ַ‫ משְׁל‬Being thrown (ms participle)
ָ
Note that the prefix’s vowel is a ‫מֵץ–הָטוּף‬E, not ‫מֵץ‬E.
Thus the first example above is hoshlak, not hashlak.
17

18. Pattern 2
0ַ‫ שְׁל‬It was thrown (3ms perfect)
ֻ‫ה‬
0ַ‫ י שְׁל‬It will be thrown (3ms impf.)
ֻ
0ַ‫ משְׁל‬Being thrown (ms participle)
ֻ
18

19. That list of basic patterns
omitted the imperative and
infinitives because they appear
extremely rarely in the 0‫.תַּנ2״‬
19

20. Recognizing ‫ הָפְעַל‬Verbs
The most distinctive feature
of the ‫ הָפְעַל‬is the u-class vowel
(either ‫מֵץ–חָטוּף‬E or ‫בּוּץ‬H)
associated with its prefix.
20

21. No other ‫ בִּנ+י)ן‬features a
prefixed u-class vowel (though
the ‫ פֻּעַל‬does normally give R1
a u-class vowel).
21

22. Recognizing the ‫ הָפְעַל‬Perfect
In the perfect, the ‫הָפְעַל‬
has a -ָ‫ ה‬or -ֻ‫ ה‬prefix.
22

23. ‫ד‬Kְ‫הָפ‬
The prefixed ‫ה‬
The suffix ‫הֻשְׁלְכ ָה‬
with a u-class
indicates
‫הָשְׁלַכְתִּי‬ vowel indicates
a perfect.
a ‫.הָפְעַל‬
‫הָטְבְּעוּ‬
23

24. Recognizing the ‫ הָפְעַל‬Imperfect
In the imperfect, the ‫הָפְעַל‬
has the usual imperfect
prefix with a ‫מֵץ–חָטוּף‬E or
‫בּוּץ‬H as the prefix’s vowel.
24

25. ‫ם‬Oֳ‫י ח‬
ָ
The u-class
The affixes ‫טַר‬M‫תּ‬ ָ vowel
indicate an indicates
imperfect. ‫י עֳמַד‬ָ
a ‫.הָפְעַל‬
‫ישְׁלְכוּ‬ ֻ
25

26. Recognizing the ‫ הָפְעַל‬Participle
The ms ‫ הָפְעַל‬participle looks like
the 3ms perfect, but with a prefixed
–ָ‫ מ‬or –ֻ‫ מ‬and a lengthened R2 vowel:
0‫הֻשְׁל‬
ַ 3ms perfect
0‫מֻשְׁל‬
ָ ms participle 26

27. The mp and fp participles take
the familiar plural endings ‫ ים‬
ִ–
and ‫. –וֹת‬
27

28. The fs participle is a little bit
different from the others. Its
R2 has a ‫ סְגוֹל‬and it takes the
suffix ‫ ת‬as follows:
ֶ–
0‫מֻשְׁל‬
ָ ms participle
‫מֻשׁ ֶת‬
‫ְלכ‬ ֶ fs participle
28

29. Notable Variations in the ‫הָפְעַל‬
This slideshow focuses on core
patterns. It does not try to illustrate
every possible variation. However,
some variations are so common
they deserve special attention here.
29

30. Two important changes
occur in verbs where:
• R1 is ‫י‬
• R2 is ‫ ו‬or ‫*י‬
• R2 = R3**
* Called biconsonantal or “hollow” verbs.
** Called geminate (from Gemini) verbs.
30

31. First, the prefix’s vowel, usually
ָ– ֻ–,
or changes to ‫ וּ‬instead. Note
that this is still a u-class vowel.
31

32. Second, R2 undergoes
aphaeresis (disappears).
32

33. ‫שֹׁ)שׁ‬ ‫הָפְעַל‬
‫ישׁב‬ ‫הוּשׁב‬
ַ 3ms perfect
‫קום‬ ‫יוּקם‬ ַ 3ms imperfect
‫סבב‬ ‫מוּסב‬ָ ms participle
33

34. Summary
0‫הֻשְׁל‬
ַ 3ms perfect Look for a u-
class vowel in
0‫שְׁל‬V‫י‬
ַ 3ms imperfect
the prefixes
ָ
0‫מֻשְׁל‬ ms participle
of all forms.
34

35. Credits
Dead Sea photo by Wikimedia Commons contributor
Xta11. Used under a CC-SA license.
All other content by Dr. Chris Heard, Associate
Professor of Religion, Pepperdine University.
Released under a CC-BY license.
Grammatical terminology used in this presentation
follows J. Cook and R. Holmstedt, Beginning Biblical
Hebrew (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2013).