Lesson 14 Qal Perfect - Weak

In the Bible, weak verbs are much more common than strong verbs. To understand Biblical Hebrew, we must be able to translate weak verbs.

A weak verb is defined as a verb with one or more letters that cause the word to deviate from the strong verb pattern. We already looked at two of these in the previous lesson: נ and ת assimilate under certain conditions.

Many Hebrew grammar textbooks asked students to memorize all of the differences in each stem and conjugation. Fortunately, there is an easier way.

We can simply study the changes caused by weak letters. These changes then become clues we can use to uncover the applicable strong verb pattern. This will enable us to correctly determine a weak verb’s stem and conjugation to translate it accurately.

LESSON ITINERARY

  1. 3נ and 3ת assimilate
  2. 1G, 2G reject Vocal Sheva
  3. 2fs form of 3ע/ח is irregular
  4. 3א usually quiesces
  5. \(R_3\) in 3ה is a vowel, not a consonant
  6. Geminate and Biconsonantal often have only two root letters visible
  7. Clues for your Qal Perfect Quest

EQUIPMENT CHECK

Before continuing, can you describe the following concepts?

  • You must have the Qal Perfect Strong Paradigm memorized!