an introductory grammar of rabbinic hebrew

AN
INTRODUCTORY
GRAMMAR
OF
RABBINIC HEBREW
BY
MIGUEL
PEREZ
FERNANDEZ
TRANSLATED
BY
JOHN
ELWOLDE
BRILL
LEIDEN · NEW
YORK
·
KOLN
1997
Published with financial support from the Direccion General del Libro y Bibliotecas del
Ministerio
de
Cultura, Spain.
Originally
published in 1992 as
La
kngua
de
los
sabios,
I. Morfosintaxis, by Editorial Verbo

Divino, Estella,
Spain. © Copyright
of
the Spanish edition: Editorial Verbo Divino, 1992
and lnstitucion
Sanjeronimo,
1992.
This book
is
printed on acid-free paper.
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of
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Khazarzar
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Deutsche
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CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Perez
Fernandez,
Miguel:
An
introductory grammar
of
rabbinic Hebrew I by Miguel Perez
Fernandez. Trans!.

by
John
Elwolde
Leiden;
New
York;
Koln:
Brill, 1997
ISBN 90-04 1 0890-4
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NETHERL>JIIDS
FOREWORD
This practical teaching grammar for students who already have a reasonable
knowledge
of
Biblical Hebrew was initially developed over the period 1990
to 1992 as a handbook for courses in Rabbinic Hebrew at the University
of
Granada. Each unit concludes with vocabulary and twenty exercise texts re-
lating to the grammatical point at issue in the unit. The exercises are gener-
ally drawn from tannaitic literature. and the student should find everything
required to deal with them in the book. Many

of
the early exercises come
from Abot, which. although not typical
of
the Mishnah, is more accessible to
the beginner in rabbinic language and thought.
Each unit
is
divided into six sections: Introductory text, Morphology
(including a presentation
of
diachronic matters). Grammar and usage,
Phraseology, Vocabulary, and Exercises. The introductory texts and short
explanations are designed to introduce the student to the language and con-
cepts
of
the tannaim. Each introductory text exhibits the linguistic feature
covered
by
the unit, although it serves primarily as a starting-point for dis-
cussion
of
literary, theological, historical, and methodological issues.
Overall, the work is divided into four parts: Nouns (including pronouns
and adjectives), Verbs, Particles (including prepositions, conjunctions, and
adverbs). and Clauses. The part dealing with clauses includes sentence syn-
tax.
and the use
of
the conjunctions, but excludes the syntax

of
the noun and
of
the verb, which are dealt with in the first two parts.
The Introduction gives an account
of
the present state
of
Rabbinic He-
breW'
research. including a discussion
of
(1) the relationships
of
early-or
tannaitic-Rabbinic
Hebrew to its
later-or
amoraic-variety,
to classical
and later Biblical Hebrew, and to the Hebrew
of
the Dead Sea Scrolls, and
(2) the nature
of
Rabbinic Hebrew as a spoken language in the light
of
mod-
em
studies in phonetics, vocabulary, and dialect. The Bibliography at the

close
of
the book should be helpful to readers wishing to pursue particular is-
sues further, although it is not exhaustive.
It is not only the pedagogical orientation
of
this book that clearly sets it
apart from M.H.
Segal's A Grammar
of
Mishnaic Hebrew (Oxford, 1927),
but also its use
of
manuscripts-rather
than printed
editions-of
the Mishnah
(notably Codex Kaufmann), its general avoidance
of
later-amoraic-Rab-
binic Hebrew, and its inclusion
of
texts from the early midrashim.
Texts from the Mishnah follow either C. Albeck's edition or,
if
preceded
by
'K',
Codex Kaufmann.
For

the Tosefta, the editions
of
M.S. Zuckerman-
dei and
S. Lieberman are followed, and for the Mekhilta, Sifra, Sifre to Num-
bers, and
Sifre to Deuteronomy, those
of
J .S Lauterbach, I.H. Weiss,
H.S. Horovitz. and L. Finkelstein, respectively.
ACKNO~DGEMENTS
I
owe
a large debt
of
gratitude to everyone who helped
me
during the two
years
I spent preparing the original volume, in particular to Professor Giin-
ter Sternberger
of
the University
of
Vienna and Professor Luis Gir6n,
of
the
Complutensian University,
Madrid, who read and annotated the first draft in
detail. to my colleagues Jose Ram6n Ayaso and

Lola
Ferre, who helped
me
with the indices, and to
my
niece. Esther, for
her
assistance in computing
matters.
Dr
J.F. Elwolde
of
the Dept.
of
Biblical Studies, University
of
Sheffield,
brought the Spanish original to the attention
of
scholars through his review in
The Society
for
Old Testament Study Book List
of
1993. His English version
incorporates many minor additions and corrections
as
well
as
an improved

bibliography and a greatly expanded set
of
indices.
We
are extremely grateful
to Anne Lee, a student in
Dr
Elwolde's
department,
who
entered the vast
bulk
of
the
exercises into the computer, and who, with Rosemarie Kossov. a
graduate student, helped with the proofreading; thanks
are
due
as
well to
Martin F .J. Baasten
of
the University
of
Lei den. for his help with the passage
from Contini
on
p. 186, and Kate
Dove
Davis, a colleague

of
Dr
Elwolde,
who helped with the production
of
the camera-ready copy.
We
should also
like
to
record
our
thanks to the publishers, E.J. Brill, especially in the persons
of
Hans van der Meij, who oversaw the commissioning and progress
of
the
translation, and Anne Folkertsma and her successor, Mattie Kuiper, for their
helpfulness
at
the beginning and end
of
the publishing process.
The
publica-
tion has been funded in large measure
by
a grant to the publishers from the
Direcci6n General del Libro y Bibliotecas
of

the Ministerio
de
Cultura in
Madrid and
was
undertaken
as
part
of
a research project, Lengua y Literatura
del Judaismo
Clt:isico, sponsored by the Ministerio de Educaci6n y Ciencia
(PB93/1161).
Miguel Perez Fernandez
Granada, March 1997
CONTENTS
Foreword v
Acknowledgements vi
Abbreviations xxi
Introduction 1
1. The language
of
the Torah by itself, the language
of
the
wise by itself.
2.
Tannaitic Hebrew (RH1) and Amoraic
Hebrew (RH2). 3.
RHl.

a spoken language. 4. Foreign in-
fluence in vocabulary and the legacy
of
Biblical Hebrew
(BH).
5.
BH and
RH1-two
different languages.
6.
RH1,
LBH (Late Biblical Hebrew), and the Hebrew
of
the Dead
Sea Scrolls. 7. Influence
of
BH on
RHl.
8. Differences be-
tween manuscripts and printed editions.
9.
Rabbinic He-
brew (RH) phonetics. 10. Traditions and dialects
of
RH1.
11. Conclusion.
Part/
Nouns
Unit I Personal pronouns
11

1-2. Abot 1.1: transmission
of
the Torah.
3.
BH and RH
personal pronouns.
4.
The variations
·~t:m~.
1J~/1Jn~/
1JnJ,
n~mn~.
~IJn~.
Cil!Jil. 5. Suffixed pronouns; use
of
-rl_!;.
6. Suffixed pronouns with
r~-
7. Emphatic function
of
pronouns.
8.
Pronoun as copula in nominal clause. 9. Pro-
leptic pronoun before subject. 10. Demonstrative usage
(~~iliJ,
etc.).
11.
Proleptic pronoun before object. 12.
~~il
,o;~

il:iJ. 13.
,o;~
~~il
p1.
14. n
iltj~
·1o.
Unit 2 Demonstratives
21
1-2. SNm 84.2: fulfilment
and
harmonization
of
Scripture.
3. BH and RH demonstratives.
4.
Strengthened forms.
5.
Pronominal and adjectival uses.
6.
Repetition
of
demon-
strative to express movement
or
reciprocity. 7. Deictic
function
of
-n~.
8.

C~~
as demonstrative.
9.
-~,P ,~.
10.
Demonstrative use
of
personal pronoun
(~~iliJ,
etc.). 11.
ilftJ
c'(il'~.
~~iJ
c'(il''(. 12.
-e~,p
?~.
viii
CONTENTS
Unit 3 Article 25
1. Abot 1.17: study and practice. 2. The article in AH and
BH.
3.
The article's originally deictic function. 4. Article
as vocative.
S.
Article with adjectives and participles.
6-7.
Attributive adjective without article.
8.
Noun with article

and attributive adjective without (equivalent to circumstan-
tial clause).
9.
Semantically determined phrases without
article.
10. Article in proverbs and aphorisms. 11. Absence
of
article when noun is already determined by proleptic
suffix. 12.
',,v
,~'?1
:nrifiJ
~~-
Unit 4 Possessive pronouns and the genitive particle shel 29
1-2.
SNm 78.4: proselytes and Israelites.
3.
,Qin)',j?
(,01m
'?'lp
).
4.
BH
and
RH
possessive suffixes.
5.
Inde-
pendent possessive pronouns
('7~.

etc.).
6.
Composition,
orthography, and history
of~-
7. Table
of
independent
possessive pronouns. 8.
~
and Aramaic '"f.
9.
Independent
possessive pronoun as noun (e.g.
·~
m>
or
in place
of
pronominal suffix
(e.g.·~
,~":y).
10-13.
Use
of~
com-
pared with construct chain. 14.
~
following proleptic suf-
fix

(e.g.c~~inm).
ts.
~0.1~0.
Unit 5 Interrogatives 34
1. ARN 4: the temple cult and love for
one's
neighbour;
C',onnt/'o~.
2.
•o
and ilO; vocalization
ofiTO.
3.
New RH
int~~gativ~s:
iTt'~.
ir·~:1',·~.
4.
Semantic ·evolution
of
ill·~.
S. •o and
iTQ
as pronouns and adjectives.
6.
~'!liT
ilQ/
!JiTQ.
7.
Indefinite pronouns

-tP.
•o and
-tP.
ilQ.
8.
iTQ
in gez-
erah shawah comparisons.
9.
ilQ
as part
of
adverbial ex-
pressions (e.g.
il~:;;l).
10.
!Jilt'M.
•ilir~.
nr~.
ir~.
~-~
as
pronouns and adjectives.
11.
iTt'~.
it·~.
!J',•~
conveying
choice.
12.

ilQi"'T
,~liJ
ilQ'?;
structure
of
meshalim.
13.
~l
ilQ,
m1
iTQ.
t;i't:\l
iTQ.
Unit 6 Indefinite expressions 39
1. Abot 3.9: wisdom and works.
2.
Indefinite pronoun
C~:;>.
3.
Other forms found in indefinite expressions.
4.
C~.
01~-':l;>,
C1~
1'~·
,~l·
~o:y-',;>.
,~l
l'~·
',;> as indef-

inite expressions. S.
(Nflil!P ':l~.
~·iJw '7;>.
Ji"J¢ ',;>
as indef-
inite expressions.
6.
Statements
of
universal validity with
-',~and
participle.
7.
Interrogatives
'l;l
and
ilQ
as indefinite
expressions.
8.
(Nfl~.
(Nf~,O.
TiJfl!O
as
indefinite ex-
pressions.
9.
Use
ofC~:;>.10.~Q.
11. Partitive

Jl;l
in in-
definite expressions. 12.
mr~"e.
13. Indefinite statements
CONTENTS
ix
of
general application. 14.
C'"'))i~
W:.1-
15.
CipQ-':l~.
Unit 7 Reflexive
and
reciprocal structures 44
l.
Pea 1.1: eschatological retribution;
,~p.
ill'Wi
1-!0'?t:J.
2.
Reflexive and reciprocal devices in RH.
3.
-7
with pro-
nominal suffix; conveying 'middle'
or
'ingressive' sense.
4.

C~l'.
iO~~',,
10~~:;1.
iO~~O;
1~'?~l,;);
iO~~
r::)',
iJ":!).
5.
Expressions using C

IJ,
~.and
r:")~ll.
6.
Reflexive value
of
1~'?~
',:;1p.
7.
Expressions
of
reciprocity: repetition
of
de-
monstrative; l?.!

w·~;
i"1::)rj?

r~;
1p~rq.
8.
:mt;"Q
iiDDp.
9.
iO~~
r:;:~'?
iJ~:!l.
10.
1''?-t' ',:!)p.
ll.
Clt$
,~~
~',
;,:;m'?.
Unit 8 The relative pronoun she- 49
l.
Abot 3.17: wisdom and works.
2-4.
Historical develop-
ment
of
BH
,~~and
RH
-U:'·
5. Meanings and uses
of
-W.

6.
-W
as relative.
A.
With retrospective determination via
suffixes (e.g. C"i)
iJ1,~f?rD
iT"!~)-
B. With retrospective de-
termination via adverbs
of
place (e.g.
c!p',
1'?vi'D
cip~iJ).
C. Without retrospective determination.
D.
With
~r.;~.
ilQ,
~as
antecedent.
E.
',I'D.
F.
-arrna;.
7.
~as
conjunction. A.
Introducing 'object clause'; introducing indirect speech. B.

Introducing direct speech, especially in oaths.
C.
With ex-
planatory
or
exegetical function.
D.
-tP
,~,
-¢~~o.
-¢:::>.
-fPC;
.¢
as causal conjunction.
8.
-:!1
~~
intr<Xlu~ing
cir-
cumstantial clause; -
',~
~~

-7ti
9.
-!Q
li~l.
-¢
~1ill
as

adversative conjunctions. 10.
-"
i:::>,1rttn~
11.
~~-
12.
-~
~~tP.l

-~.
41
r::)1

~
r:;1.
-
Unit 9 Noun patterns 56
l.
Ber 1.5: the justification
of
halakhah through Scripture;
'1:!1!
as particle
of
'amplification'. 2. Noun types
ofRH
and
BH. 3.
RH's
capacity for creating new nouns. 4. Nouns

of
type
i'f?'t!!p.
5. Nouns
of
type
',lSp~P
6. Nouns
of
type
~P.~h~piJiil'?tw.iJ.
7.
Nouns
of
type
',~P
8.
Nouns
of
type
T'xlipJ1'?t!!P
9.
il'?~~p,.
',~p.
i'f?tppiJ
in place
of
in-
finitive construct. 10. Semantic development
of

il'{t;!p,
type.
ll.
Nouns
of
type
m',·~p.
12.
iltGiJ
,1~
1110~.
13.
,~iJ
ilJ~.
ill:;:I.P.
,gen. 14.
~
,1:!1-p.
IS.
C/il'iJ
11f'n
·~r.;~.
Unit 10 Gender
and
number
of
nouns 62
1. SNm 112.4: the exegetical methods
of
Akiba and Ish-

mael; nio'?il'.
2.
Gender and number in BH and RH.
3.
Masculine singular.
4.
Feminine singular.
5.
Masculine
X
CONTENTS
plural. 6. Feminine plural.
7.
Dual.
8.
RH forms not at-
tested in BH.
9-11.
Different meanings associated with
masculine and feminine forms
of
a word. 12. Increased use
of
dual. 13.
·o~P.
1'0.~0.
14.
,.D~iJ1'1'1~':!11iJT11-
IS.
i:f1?

c~'?J!.
Unit
11
Absolute and construct 68
1. Abot 6.2: the
al tiqra principle.
2.
semikhut-determi-
nant and determined noun. 3. Inflectional changes to de-
termined noun.
4A-B.
Different types
of
determinative re-
lationship.
C.
Passive participles determined by agent. D.
Determinative relationships with
1~·
n~.
',l]~.
S. Plural
forms
of
construct chains.
6.
',tzi
in
place
of

semikhut.
7.
Prepositions and conjunctions r:;l.
-~·~.
not:~.
'1Ql'.
·~'?.
-CP.
':J:;l'?,
~
'!.~.
-¢
,l!,
etc. as determined forms;
-Ui
'1:;>;
~
f1P-iiJ:!l.
8.
C1tq:;l,
c~-·~::!1.
9.
',;p-~.
10.
c~ ~~
ll'1·
Unit 12 Greek and Latin words 74
l.
Mek 19.4: the midrashic function
of

parables. 2. Trilin-
gual nature
of
tannaitic Palestine; Hellenism.
3-4.
Tran-
scription and morphological patterning
of
Greek and Latin
words.
S.
Inflection
of
Greek and Latin words. 6-8. Social
and literary contexts evidencing Greek or Latin influence.
9. Greek- and Latin-based
verbs; syntactic effect
of
Greek
and Latin vocabulary.
10.
t;i~
i'F-l:.
ll.
t!li'!i}
lit::>.
Unit 13 Adjectives 80
l.
SOt 277: rabbinic argumentation in dialogue form.
2.

Adjective types
of
RH and BH. 3. Predicative and attribu-
tive uses, number and gender agreement, particularly with
collective nouns. 4. Interchangeability
of
adjectives and
participles.
S.
Comparative and superlative forms. A. With
comparative
10.
B. With
10
iDi'.
C.
With
?l]
in:.
D. Adjec-
tive
+
-~
expressing superlative. E. Superlative with
"mo.
F.
Expression
of
superlative through repetition
of

noun in
construct chain.
6.1~~
"1Di'.
1~~
n~~-
Unit 14 Numerals
85
1.
SOt 329: scriptural proofs
of
resurrection. 2. Table
of
cardinal numbers
in
RH. 3. Gender agreement
of
numbers
one to ten. 4. Ordinal numbers;
it~~
for BH
n•J!Zl.
S. Syn-
tax
of
cardinal numbers.
6.
Syntax
of
ordinal numbers;

dates;
n·~
•three-year
old",·~!
•four-year old'. 7. Dis-
tributives. 8. Fractions. 9.
Cl]~.
C'o.ye
expressing repeated
CONTENTS
or
multiple acts. 10. Denominative verbs based on numer-
als.
n.
,~,

-n:r~-
12.
,~::;,.
nr:r~:>.
13.
c·~~iJ.
Part II Verbs
xi
Unit 15 Conjugations (binyanim) 95
1.
~g
1.8: the relationship
of
oral law to Scripture. 2.

Table
of
BH
binyanim; prefix. suffix, participial, impera-
tive, jussive, cohortative forms and moods.
3.
The
RH
verb.
A.
Disappearance
of
Pu
'a/.
B. Replacement
of
Hitpa 'el by Nitpa 'al; Nittaf' al.
C.
Nuf'al.
D.
Saf'
el, Shaf-
'el.
E.
Pi'lel, Pi/pel, Pir'el, Pi'les. 4. Morphology
of
RH
binyanim.
A.
Nif'al: loss

of
intervocalic

,
__
B.
Pi'el: as-
similation to triradical pattern in ayin-waw and -yod verbs;
,~tV
> ,
_!Q.
C.
Pu
'a/: loss
of
preformative mem in partici-
ple.
D.
Nitpa 'al: vocalization as Nitpa 'el; metathesis/as-
similation
of
-rn
prefix.
E.
Hif'il: loss
of
preformative
-il
in
infinitive.

F.
Hof'al: Hof'al becomes Huj'al;
"1tii},
~-
G.
Quadriliteral conjugations: inflected on model
of
Pi'el:
5.
Meanings
of
binyanim. 6.
Qat
loss
of
stative meaning. 7.
Nif'al.
A. Passive.
B.
Reflexive:
~~OJ
•turn
out'.
C.
Reciprocative:
,.,',m.
D.
Middle. 8. Pi'el. A. Expressing
repeated action.
B.

Inchoative.
C.
Replacing Qal;
as
denominative. D. Declarative:
,tr~.
~~.
il~i.
::J.".n;
t!l,P.'O,
il;t',.
9.
Hif'il; causative; inchoative; expressing change
of
state. 10. Hitpa'el,Nitpa'al. A. Reflexive/passive
of
Pi'el.
B.
Reflexive use expressing passivity. toleration, giving
of
permission.
C.
Inchoative.
D.
Middle.
E.
Reciprocative.
11. Saf'el. Shaf'el as causatives; other quadriliterals as
in-
tensive-causatives.

12.
~~~~,,
~~~0~1.
C".P-l;lt:l~~r.l~1-
13.
fl;ll?10Q
rnJ-!"119
n10.
il;t1"11';)
::J.itsiJ
mo.
14.
c·~~~
c•c:;>~.
r,n
·~!l.
C"c:;>~.
Unit 16 Tenses
and
moods 104
1.
PRE
12: deeds
of
mercy. 2. Tenses and moods in BH.
3.
Forms missing from RH. 4. RH differences from
BH
in the
perfect.

A.
ill;l'?~
for
l;l~P
B.
n:v
for
ilt)~iJ.
etc.;
l~P
for
~~p.
5. RH differences from
BH
in the imperfect.
A.
~j?t:'l.
1~p·
for itpt!lprct B. Disappearance
ofr',w.r,.
c.
',it!lp' for ',t!lp'. 6. RH differences from
BH
in the partici-
ple. A.
n~
for
it~.
B.T-
for

C
7.
RH differences from
BH
in
the imperative:
1~p
for
iti(t!lp;
',it!lp
for
~i?.
8. RH dif-
ferences from
BH
in the infinitive. A. Absence
of
infinitive
absolute.
B.
Infinitive construct based on imperfect. 9.
xii
CONTENTS
Summary paradigm
of
Qat
of
regular verb. 10. 'Tense' and
'aspect' in BH.
11.

Disappearance
of
waw-consecutive,
etc. in RH.
12. Emergence
of
a 'tense' system in RH. A.
Perfect relates to past (sometimes present). B. Participle re-
lates to present and future; imperative, facultative/jussive.
C. Imperfect relates to future; command, intention (aspect),
jussive (mood).
13. Periphrastic forms. A.
n:v
+ participle.
B.
-7
i't:i-t' + infinitive; contrasted with imperfect and par-
ticiple; indicating eschatological future.
14.
i~~:;l.
iM:p
replaced by
t~~;r.t?P.
15. Auxiliary verbs. A.
Follo~"oo
by
-7
and infinitive.
B.
Followed by

fQ.
C.
',•I'Jt:iiJ
'begin'.
D.
;'?.im
+ participle to indicate continuous
or
progressive ac-
tion.
16.
iOi',
11o',r,
<""n),
iOi',
i11:l',r,-ilo. 17.
1•nv',
.,.
-

-
·-
-
.,

tll1:::1.:.
Unit 17 Peifect
113
1.
Naz 3.6: rna 'a8iyyot in the Mishnah. 2. RH differences

from BH in the perfect:
il~j?
for
t;'I~P.,
n~j?
for
if?~,
1~~
for
~i?.
3. Qat perfect forms
~P.,
~P.;
',bj?
ab-
sent; ',t:>:. 4. Ayin-waw and
-yod
verbs. A. Qat: Cj?,
~.
IZii!l;
Nif'al:
1ii¥ji"1·~.
B.
Pi'el (etc.):
c-•p.
~~~~.
',·~~.
1r:>;
i"tP
(<

iMIZi).
C. Po'lel: ij_il1; Pitpel:
JPt.
S. Lamed-ale!
and -he verbs. A. Lamed-ale! verbs inflected like lamed-he:
•n·-,P.·
1J'ij?.1T~.
B. Third person feminine singular Qal
inn-;:
n:v.
nt;J~.
C.
Third person feminine singular Nij'al:
n•',J~.
nt~~~OJ.
D. Suffixed forms
of
lamed-he
verbs in-
flected like
lamed-alej:
1mtli~.V.
1~tpv.
6-7.
Perfect ex-
presses action that took place at specific point in past; dis-
tinguished from general
or
atemporal statements; effect
of

disappearance
of
',bp"1 construction; use
of
perfect
to
be-
gin meshalim.
8.
Perfect with pluperfect significance;
in
combination with
n:v
+ participle/noun. 9. Perfect with
present reference. A. In dialogues and colloquial speech:
t;'liO~.
1'1iJ
10
'n?t
~',.
~'?
ct)tll~.
B. Expressing a state
or condition that arose in past but persists in present
ip~J
n~
'r:JltP~iJ.
10. Perfect in declarations
of
general va-

lidity:
tio
tll~
.r~
opJ.
11-12. Perfect in protasis
of
condi-
tional/temporal sentence, in halakhic formulations and nar-
rative; distinguished from liturgical atemporal present.
13.
Future perfect, expressing future event regarded as already
having taken place.
14.
il~l}
il~-t'tltiTO.
'0'~-t''t:i'~l}~
expressing irreversibility. 15.
1'"1iJ
10
'n'~!
~',.
16.
t;liOt$.
17.
M~~',].
CONTENTS xiii
Unit 18 Imperfect
121
1. SDt 41: the motives for studying Torah.

2.1?r;>p,r:J,
1?r;>p,~
for BH
il~'(bpr-1
and for BH
r7t;JP,r:J
(p~p,r:J
and
p?r;>p,~
sometimes used).
3-4.
Absence
of
BH cohortatives
<if?~~.
il?t:>p~)
and jussives
q~&l).
5. Biblical and Ara-
maizing conjugations
of
n:iJ.
6.
Confusion
of
lamed-alef
and lamed-he verbs:
~1P,'~1P'.
"1j?r-1~1P.r-l.
7.

1~iJ
like
pe-alef
m imperfect:
1~1~.
1~;·.
8. Stylistic. etc., aspects
of
the use
of
the different conjugations
of
il:iJ and
of
the
lengthened and shortened forms.
9. Imperfect expressing
(possible) future.
10. Imperfect with modal aspect: cohorta-
tive, optative, jussive. 11. 'Persuasive' mood
of
imperfect
replacing
imperative~
?~
+ imperfect in
prohibitions~
i$ P.~
R?
in

impersonal prohibitions. 12. Imperfect express-
ing durative action. 13. Use
of
imperfect contrasted with
that
of
participle in halakhah and midrash. 14.
-rQ
+ imper-
fect
in
temporal, final. consecutive, etc., clauses. 15.
C~
+
imperfect expressing possible but unfulfilled condition.
-rQ
,.n-!7 + imperfect expressing event only possible in fu-
ture. 17.
~~MQrQ.
Unit 19 Participle 129
1. SDt 329: the responsibility
of
the individual before God.
2. RH use
of
n-
in feminine and C-/j- in plural participle. 3.
Qal. A. Active
?~p.
intransitivelstative

?~P
?bP.; femi-
nine
n?~p
and il?!:!1p; morphological and semantic rela-
tionship
of
stative participle and adjective; replacement
of
statives by actives; ?t:>:.
if?~:>\
B. Suffixed forms
of
par-
ticiple:
·n~tl,
·~lie,
·~.VQiW.
C.
Feminine singular passive
participle in
il~:
,~0~.
ill~O~;
as nominalized adjective:
ili?i1,~.
D. Feminine· singular participle in
il-;
in
ayin-waw

and
lamed-he
verbs:
il~;l.
iJ¥1.
E.
Active participle
in
?il:lj?.
F.
Passive participle in
?~t9p:
ilFJ~~-
4.
Nif'al:
n~m
preferred over BH
il?t:>P,J:
n.o,n.
~1p~.
rr~,?.P,~;
~~and
ilf?'~
for
ilf?l~;
li~/ji"f'~.
SA. Pi'el: BH paradigm
retained;
il1iJQ/ii~.iJQ.
58.

Pu'al: BH paradigm retained;
feminine participle
of
lamed-he verbs in il-:
if?uot
il~1JO;
omission
of
preformative mem:
1:!-!'10
for
l:l-!'10Q.
6. Hitpa 'el
and Nitpa 'al: assimilation
of
-n-
of
preformative more
common than in BH. 7
A.
Hif'il: feminine participle in
n~p,O
(as LBH) for BH il'(t:>pO:
rT110.
ri?P.Q
(for
il7.P,O).
78.
Hof'al: with u for BH o
(C1P,10,

nQ1.P,v.:l);
feminine
participle in
n-in
lamed-he
verbs:
r.oro~o.
8.
Nominal
character
of
participle, especially in 'construct'.
9.
Tempo-
xiv
CONTENTS
ral
and
modal aspects
of
participle.
10.
Participle in atem-
poral statements; relationship
of
stative participles and ad-
jectives; relationship
of
Qal passive
and

Nifal
participles.
11.
Plural participle, without subject, in impersonal, indef-
inite, general statements
or
those that imply
God
as agent.
12.
Participle expressing habitual actions in past
and
future
(liturgical atemporality)
or
adding vividness
to
account. 13.
Participle as adverbial modifier
of
main verb:
:JrQi~,
,~il1,
etc., especially in meshalim. 14.
1'iii11,
etc., with participle,
expressing continuous
or
progressive action.
15.

Participle
as complement
of
'7-nm
•begin'
and
l:l1t;l
~~
111
•the way
of
human
beings'.
16.
;r:;:t
+participle.
A. Expressing con-
tinuous action in past.
B.
Expressing continuous action in
future.
C.
Expressing
continuous
action in
imperative
mood.
D.
Expressing continuous action in infinitive mood.
E.

Expressing pluperfect. 17. Participle with future refer-
ence.
A.
In
idiomatic speech. indicating immediate future
or
an
event
about
to
happen.
B.
In exegetical writing.
C.
In
expressions employing imperfect in BH.
D.
~iO/~
~io
+
participle expressing eschatological
or
inevitable future.
'T'E:'J-!'
+ participle expressing eschatological future. 18. Im-
perative connotation
of
participle in expressions
of
imme-

diate
or
inevitable future and in halakhic formulations
or
statements
of
principles; permissive significance in positive
contexts.
19.
Participle
in
halakhic
suppositions.
20.
Passive participle as a gerundive
or
expressing destiny. 21.
Passive
participle
with
active
meaning.
22.
Participle
negated with
r~'
~".
but
not
"~.

23.
w,;,, :Jqji•
;r:;:t.
24.
0'!~?1T~Q~.
2S.o·,~~-o'1;1Till:)::;:l
~-~).
Unit
20
Infinitive 143
1.
SDt
355: development
of
oral law sanctioned by Moses.
2.
Disappearance
of
infinitive absolute in RH; infinitive
construct
with
-'7,
-'po;
negated
by~?~;
development
of
negative
form
of

infinitive in
BH.
LBH.
etc.
3.
Qal
infinitive based
on
imperfect; table
of
forms; occasional re-
tention
of
BH
structures.
4.
Assimilation
of
lamed-alefto
lamed-he forms
of
infinitive:
rri,p,':;!,
n~'(.
5-6.
Elision
of
preformative
-i1
in

Nif'al
and
Hifil
infinitive:
0~~·?,
?~;~:p•':;!,
m.~·?.
rriiZ1-!7''i.'.
~~·':;!,
rri::l17.
7.
RH
infinitive with
-7
only
accepts
object
suffixes.
8.
Abandonment
of
BH
i~~p.
i~~:p
constructions.
9.
Functions
of
infinitive: as
subject

or
object (complement)
of
verb; expressing pur-
pose; used attributively, modifying noun; used modally, as
CONTENTS
gerund.
10.
,Qi?
introducing direct speech
or
quotation.
ll.
Infinitive + ?l!
with
imperative
significance;
-"
~'?.v
r1i.:ll
as cohortative. 12.
-7
"l"t:l-t',
-?
~io
+ infinitive
expressing inevitable;
-?
,Qil1
'be about

to'.
13.
/'~~
ilQ
-?

~mm~.
14.
~~
ti"11J~'J
piD~
p~no;?
-;r?.v
r~
~-::r
TiiD~!i]
1iiD7~.
1
iiD~,i]
1'1~
~~
11,'?
;·?.v
r~-
ts.
r~iiD.P,7
-::>

;
~·~iii'?,

~':::li'J7.
XV
Unit
21
Imperative 150
1. SDt 49:
'Be
gracious and merciful
just
as God is gra-
cious and merciful'; the
al
tiqre rule.
2-3.
Differences be-
tween RH and
BH
imperative: loss
of
feminine and length-
ened forms
(ilf?bi:?,
il~P.);
paradigm
of
RH imperative;
use
of
scriptio plena for
'o'

vowel.
4A.
Reappearance
of
waw
in pe-yod verbs:
i11Jrli1.
4B. Loss
of
nun in pe-nun
verbs:
10.
?il:l.
5.
Imperative
of
;-r:_i]
as though from
ilJi];
Aramaic influence.
6-7.
Restricted use
of
imperative even
in positive commands.
8. il:v imperative + participle/adjec-
tive emphasizing continuity
or
repetition. 9.
,o;~

nm.
10.
-iD~,Jil.
Part Ill Particles
Unit 22 Prepositions and conjunctions 159
1.
So_t
9.15: human virtues and divine gifts. 2. Prepositions
and conjunctions as particles
of
relation.
3.
Prepositions as
nouns in construct state.
4. Conjunctions as prepositions de-
termined by
-iD
clause. 5. Disappearance
of
BH
particles in
RH.
6.
Inseparable and
other
prepositions in RH;
new
forms:
rl'~.
-rliO::>,

1~'iJ/il~O,~iJ,
~.,;n~.
7. Accumulation
of
particles in creation
of
new RH prepositions. 8. List
of
con-
junctions.
A. Copulative and disjunctive. B. Interrogative.
C. Comparative. D. Temporal.
E.
Conditional.
F.
Causal. G.
Final.
H.
Consecutive. I. Concessive. J. Adversative. 9. Dif-
ficulty
of
categorizing prepositional meanings. 10.
-~:
local,
instrumental, adjectival
(beth essentiae),
'in
relation
to';
~?::1;

-:;1
il:;>t.
ll.
-~.
,~p.
111~.
-=;1
~~·~-
12. -
'7:
introduc-
ing indirect complement (e.g.
i?
~).
final clause. express-
ing 'ethic dative'. 'possession', replacing
-:;1,
?l!.
rl~.
~-A.
-?
'r:liO'?
~.
-7
t;JlO'?
1:1~.
B.
-7
,;!~.
C.

-
'7
~p.
D.
-?
intro-
ducing agent
of
passive verb.
l3.
Uses
of
object-mruker
-~-
14.
10
expressing origin, provenance, separation. A. Partitive
1~
in place
of
an indefinite pronoun.
B.
~·iJ,
il~'iJ.
15.
?.p:
comparative, causal, conveying obligation. 16.
,~
?.prr.
?.p.

xvi
CONTENTS
A. 'Along with'.
B.
'In
relation to, as compared with, than'.
C.
'Because of, on account
of.
D. 'For. in favour of, on be-
half of, in place
of.
E.
'Through.
by'.
F.
'By
oneself, by
one's
own endeavours'.
'in
place
of.
17.
~71"1'7;
~~1':!1:
with verbs
of
motion.
replacing?~ ?,~~;

used literally.
18.
cq,7
?.p: 'With regard to, taking into
aceounf;
in etymol-
ogy and wordplay. 19.
~0/C~tDr,l.
A.
'On
account of, with
regard
to'.
B.
'In
the name
of.
20.
cv!?tcwf?.
A.
'For
(the
sake of)'.
B.
• As, in the capacity of, by way
of;
replaced by
~lt:r-ltDO.
21.
1':!1:

in reflexive, reciprocal. and comparative
formulas. 22. "':::l¢1. A. 'Because of, on account
of.
B.
'For
(the benefit of. the purpose of),
so
that'. 23.
·~:
'sufficient
for. as much as is required for/appropriate
to'.
24.
IT.!QO:
used causally. 25.
r.po.
A.
Indicating that
one
thing is
'of
the same type/nature
as'
another.
B.
Indicating that
one
thing is like a reflection
or
synthesis of,

or
an extract from,
another.
26. irQin
.,
~~:-
Unit 23 Adverbs
and
interjections
171
1. SNm 84.4:
God's
solidarity with his people. 2.
BH
ad-
verbs not in RH.
3.
New adverbs in RH. 4. Adverbs
of
manner. A. Affirmatives:
li.'l/j"~.
'111"~11.
P·1~-
B.
Nega-
tives:
r~"~-
?~. ~?.
,~?."~-c.
Interrogatives:

T~'l~'il,
~·::>.iTO,
ilr.l:!>,
WW. 5. Adverbial accusatives, etc.:
il?-?n,
j10:;i?,
S'(::>:
Ot;Jo:
r~~"1Q.
pw.
?t:):.
6.
Compound
f~rm~.
A. With
-~:
-rTJ~~Jnlj~~.
li~~.
i:!>,1~.
-::1
~~i·~.
~i?::>.
B.
With
-:!1:
,::1?:!1,
?•?11:!1,
il::liC:!l,
il::lil:l::l
~';!tti,

tti~,'£):!1.
C.
n.,:;, ?.p

7. Adverbs
~f
-pla~e.
8.
Adverbs
of
time.
A."
Ad-
verbs
of
place employed temporally. adverbs
of
time used
tocationany:
17'i1!17'~.
o·~·~.l~~'l~·
,;n~?;
l'r~,
~~-
B.
BH
forms:
,;.I),
~onno?.
o?iD'?Jthi.ro, i::l:;).

C.
New
RH forms:
·r:19·~.
,~o:
~·s~.l~~~.·ri~.
i~UJ=?~;
,.,t;~.
D.
Aramaic influence:
::l~tti.
,P.~.
~?.p;
ttiO~-
E.
Other
temporal adverbs:
il~D,~.
il7'nr-1.
9. Interjections. A. In-
troducing discourse: ''10,
'i.'l~i_'l/lllry;
-tP.
,,i:!.
B.
Exclama-
tions:
'iil,
i?
·i~.

i?
·~.
·??~.C.~~~-
D.
·~1?il1.
E.
il~lil.
- . -
,. ,.
- -
10. Other interjectional forms: ilr.J
Ti~iJ.
illi::l.P,iJ,
O~O$j.
o~?UJ1
~iJ.
ll.
~~gative
propositions.
A.
14?.
1'~1"~.
?~;
il!Q.V,E:l
~?
and
l'tZTll1
1'~
distinguished from
iJUlP.t:J

"?~.B.
1~.
C.?~.
D.
O~tti.
0~~-
12. Oaths and vows. 13. Wishes. A.
Expression
of
hope~
fear, desire via imperfect.
B.
·~1?iJ1.
·~rf?/"~1?1"~1?~-
C.
Formulas with
Ti~1-
14.
?i:):
as inter-
rogative
or
introducing rejected opinion. 15.
~J'I
?·~1i1
-tDlilO.~
:nn:m1'?o~1,ono
m1ro'~.
t6.
?i:>?:;>.

CONTENTS
xvii
Part IV Clauses
Unit 24 Types
of
clause
181
1. Mek 13.2: the second liberation will
be
superior to the
first; argument in form
of
ketal.
2.
Nominal and verbal
clauses: traditional classification; Arabic-based classifica-
tion; problems
of
analysing emphasis based on word-order,
clauses
of
identification, clauses
of
classification; simple
and complex nominal clauses; importance
of
wider context
for interpretation; emphasis in verbal clauses.
3.
Co-ordina-

tion and subordination at syntactic and logical levels.
4.
Two-element syntactic construction (protasis and apo-
dosis).
S. Expression
of
subordination through co-ordinate
structures in RH.
6.
Two-element conditional constructions
in
halakhot.
7.
Asyndetic juxtaposition
of
main verb and
auxiliary. 8. Negation
of
verbal clauses.
9.
Anticipation
of
element in subordinate clause as object
of
main clause, es-
pecially with
it~.
i1~l'.Q.
10. Modal nominal clauses
(circumstantial clauses); negation

of
nominal clauses;
atemporal nature
of
nominal clauses.
ll.
Nominative abso-
lute
(casus pendens): as version
of
two-element syntactic
construction; types found in RH: extraposed element re-
ferred to by pronoun in main clause; commencing with
-tD
•o
or
noun +
-tQ;
resumptive use
of
'i_iJ
+ pronoun refer-
ring to extraposed element; in halakhic disputes; in
me-
shalim; in statements
of
comparison; determination
of
ca-
sus pendens

by-~.
12. Adjectival (relative) clauses. 13.
Disjunctive
clauses: i
~
,
-\
i~

~.
-tD
i~

-tQ
~.
Cl~1

Cl~.
~

~.
14.
~~
r~,.
l:lOO
r~,.
etc. .
Unit 25 Interrogative clauses
191
L SNm 87.1: grace and law.

2-3.
Interrogative particles
of
BH and RH.
4.
The rhetorical question
.Wl',i:l·~.
S.
-iJ,
tb.:T.
6.
•:n;
1~'i1':n,
i11;)
·:n
ir·~
':;>1.
i1Q
·~o
·~~.
1.
Cl~?~.
8.
Direct disjunctive questions with
i~.
9.
Indirect ques-
tions; disjunctive indirect questions with
Cl~.
~

~.
10.
~r,;n~.
ll.
-7·J~i1Q,
-?
i1t;J~
i1~.
-?u~i1Q,
·etc.
12.
i~~
i~~
~?iJ,
~~
i~=?
.,~.
Unit 26 Comparative clauses 197
1. SDt
8:
a rabbinic 'parable
of
the talents'. 2. RH compar-
ative particles
-::>,
iO~,
rliO::>.
3. Compounds
of-~:
,~~.

1'1"?.·
•·p,
-;t
~~;·~.
4. RH comparative conjunctions:
~iO=\),
-~
rliO~,
~
~::>.
-u,}
1'11~.
~
1:~11~,
~';!·~::>;
with
xviii
CONTENTS
modal adverbs
1~·
p.
~~-
5.
Adjectives and comparisons
of
superiority,
inferiority;.,~.
6.
Compound prepositions.
A.,~~.::>.

B.1,1.::>.
C.
-::l
~~;·~.
7.
-tQO~::;>
•
.JJ1111~·
-tP
1:~~-
8.
Formulas expressing analogy:
iiQ
as compara-
tive particle. A.
Gezerah shawah:
~~

i'TQ.
B.
Heqqesh:
~~

iiQ.
c.
Qal
wa-f10mer:
l:l~
iiQ
+

~
,rtr1
'='P
~~ii
r1.
~
r,
iJ·~.
ii~~'
ii~~
m~
?.t1.
D.
1
;>.19~
•
r-1.,~7o~.
9.
Equalizing comparisons:
iii;>
iit
iii!J.p,
-::;>
.•.
rriiD.if?.
10. In-
clusive
formulas
of
comparison:

-::l~~rql

-::).,

-?,
-7
~~trll
-tP
r:;)~

-tP
r~.
r~

r~.
n!J~1

nJJ~~-
nlj~).
n. p
;~.
12.
~·n~'~
ni~.
l3.1;>T::l~
1~T~-
Unit
27
Temporal clauses 205
1.

SNm
58.1: the thirteenth rule
of
Rabbi Ishmael; the
harmonization
of
Scripture.
2-3.
Lists
of
temporal conjunc-
tions in
BH
and
RH.
4.
Subordination conveyed through
parataxis.
5.
Simultaneous action expressed through juxta-
posed nominal clause. 6.
Perfect, participle with tempo-
ral/conditional significance.
7.
New
conjunctions in RH
due to loss
of
consecutive tenses.
8.

-W::>.
9.
-tr;;o.
A. With
imperfect.
B-C.
With perfect
(and~~
~W).
10.
-117
,.t'.
A.
With imperfect.
B.~~
,.t'.
C.
Used mOdally:
with·ii~l·
D.
Used
exegetically.
ll.
~
'1::>
,.t'. 12.
~
l:l1.ip,
.JJ1,JJ~;
~

,~.
13.
-~
tr::>. 14.
-tP
'OQ'~.
15. Compounds with
ii.p~
and
]Qi.
A •
.Wt~r?~.
-Wii.p~?~:
distributive, condi-
tional/modal, comparative uses.
B.
Temporal aspect not
always central.
16.
r1::;)
·?
rzr
~·
~~
,.t'.
Unit
28
Conditional clauses 213
1. Ned 3.11: circumcision. 2. Conditional particles
of

BH
and LBH. 3. RH conditional
particles:~;"'··~?
replaced
by~~.~~~.
~'?Q~;
~~til::>
(comparative);
~~El~
(conces-
sive);
-tP
,::;)?::l~.
4. Formulation
of
conditions without con-
ditional particle. A. With perfect, participle in protasis.
B.
~1i~l.
-71~i~!-
S. Two-member halakhic conditional
statements:
-tP
•o.
etc.;
-1
?·~iii.
6.
-tP
'1i.J introducing condi-

tion.
7. Uses
of
1:1~.
A.
In rea] conditions; apodosis with
'!i.J; with perfect, especially indicating future perfect; with
participle; with imperfect, especially
of
ii~.
B.
With ii:iJ +
participle, expressing pluperfect.
C.
1~ ~1
expressing al-
ternative negative condition. D. In indirect questions.
E.
In
oath formulas.
F.
In
qal
wa-IJ.omer
arguments.
8.
Irreal
particles.
A.~~~-
B.

~~fl~~~-
C.~~~=\).
D.
~Q'(~.
E.
·'?.~~-
9.
t;J'1Q7
~.
·n-vn
~-
to.
:1m;>
~1P,O
~?Q'?R.
CONTENTS
xix
Unit 29 Causal clauses 221
1.
Pes 10.5: reliving the first passover.
2.
Table
of
causa]
conjunctions in
BH
and RH.
3.
Disappearance
of

·~
and
"1!D~
with causal force in RH. 4.
-tD
'?':::lW::l
as evidence
of
n~~al
development
of
RH.
5.
-~'i-~in.
6:
Causal uses
of
~:
explicative -¢.;
~;
~~;
~
compounded for greater
expressivity.
7.
-¢.·~~-
8.
-w~~o~o.
9.
/~o'lai'?ll

~ocp'?l}.
10.
~'TJ'(.
11.
~'?·::;1~.
A.
With imperfect.
expressing purpose. B. With participle
or
noun, expressing
cause. 12.
~
,IJ~Q.
13.
-¢.
'?l}.
14.
-1'?-~ii1.
A. As fulfilled
real condition.
B.
Marking protasis in comparison, with
apodosis in
''1il·1~·
9~·
C.
Introducing consideration in
rabbinic argument. 15.
i1'1in
i1'1Qt;l1'?-~ii1.

Unit
30
Final and consecutive clauses 229
1. Sanh 4.5: uniqueness and interdependence
of
human be-
ings.
2.
Final/consecutive
-tD
in LBH; table
of
final con-
junctions in
BH
and RH; origin
of~¢
3. Table
of
con-
secutive conjunctions in
BH
and RH. 4. Expression
of
fi-
nality through coordination with
-1
in
BH
and RH. SA.

-7
+
infinitive. SB.
-7
~~-
SC.
-7
intrOducing exegetical
infi~i-
tive.
6.
Final and exegetical
-¢
7.
-¢.
'?-::;1~.
8.
-¢.
''P,
-
'?
'1~-
A. Distinguishing uses
of-~
~d
-
'?
forms as final
conjunctions.
B.

-'?
'1~
in statements
of
quantity.
9.
-tD
n~o
'?ll.
-
'?
n~o
'?ll.
10. ~
·~~r:'l'?ll:
as adverbial modifier
and as conjunction. 11.
~~~:
with adverbial and con-
junctional values; expressing fear
or
insecurity; replacing
BH
1~-
A. As negative final conjunction. B. As adverb.
C.
As preventive final conjunction. 12. Consecutive clauses.
A. Expression
of
consecutive value through coordination

with
-1
in BH and RH. B.
-tD
'"0
with consecutive value.
C.
-¢.,
~~
foHowing
exclam~i~~
or
emphatic adjective. 13.
~
.,~~:
l':;l'::;liJ.
Unit
31
Concessive clauses 239
1. SNm 119.2: the
•liberated' tribe. 2. Concessive particles
in
BH
and RH. 3. Conditional clauses expressing conces-
sion;
~~!:!~
expressing simple condition. 4. Expression
of
concessive value through coordination with
or

without -1.
5.
~?:;l~:
emphasizing unusualness
of
circumstance.
6.
~:::>9~·
7A.
~·e'?l}~.
7B.
p•e'?ll9~·
8.
1'~'9'?ll9~
,0~~
,:;117
,~!.
,,:;117
i1:1$1.
XX
CONTENTS
Unit
32
Adversative clauses 244
L
SDt
313: Abraham's love for God.
2-3.
Adversative,
restrictive, and exceptive particles in BH, LBH, and RH. 4.

Copulative
-1
with adversative value. A. Linking two op-
posing tenns
or
concepts.
B.
With different tenses in coor-
dinated clauses.
C.
With personal pronoun following
-1;
~~~iT!.,:

':q~;
14?
?~~;
?::f~

~~M?
co~trast~
with
~7~

1
~.
1:1~
'?::f~.
-:;1
?::f~.

6.
~~.
A.
"~
·l
~M?.
sometimes emphasized by
,::)?:J.B.~'p~~::>~?.C.
~'p~
.
·.
1'~;
~'p~

~i?
"T-1070
r~-
D.
~'?~.
~
~. with-
out
preceding negative.
7.
-~
,::)7:R
8.
F:l
r~n.
9.

~'?~·?
r~.
to

~'?~?

~
~·~.
Bibliography
255
Indices
Texts
Hebrew and Aramaic fonns
Verb conjugations
(binyanim)
Types
of
verbal root
Fonns
of
the paradigm verb
?t;lp,
Noun patterns (mishqalim)
Fonns from other Semitic languages
Greekfonns
Latin fonns
English glosses
267
276
303

304
304
305
305
305
306
306
ABBREVIATIONS
Mishnah tractates
A bot
Abot Naz Nazir
Arakh
'Arakhin
Ned Nedarim
AZ
'Abodah Zarah Neg Nega'im
BB
BabaBatra
Nid Niddah
Ber
Berakhot
Ohol
Oholot
Be~
Be~ah
Orl
'Orlah
Bekh
Bekhorot
Par

Parah
Bik
Bikkurim
Pea
Pe'ah
BM
BabaMe~'a
Pes
Pesa\rim
BQ
BabaQama
Qid Qiddushin
Dem
Dema'i Qin
Qinnim
Eduy
'Eduyyot
RS
Rosh ha-Shanah
Erub
'Erubin Sanh
Sanhedrin
Gi~
Gittin
Shab
Shabbat
J:lag
J:lagigah
Shebi Shebi'it
J:lal

J:lallah
Shebu Shebu'ot
Hor
Horayot Sheq
Sheqalim
J:lul
J:lullin
So~
Sofah
Kel
Kelim
Suk
Sukkah
Ker Keritot
Taa
Ta'anit
Ket
Ketubot Tam
Tamid
Kil
Kil'aim
Teb
Tebul
Yom
Ma'a5rot Ma'a5rot
Tern
Temurah
Mak Makkot
Ter
Terumot

Makhsh Makhshirin
Toh
Tohorot
Meg
Megillah
Uq~
'Uq~in
Mei Me'illah Yad
Yadaim
Men
MenaJ:tot
Yeb
Yebamot
Mid
Middot
Yom
Yoma
Miqw Miqwa'ot
Zab
Zabim
MQ
Mo'edQafan
Zeb
ZebaJ:tim
MS
Ma'aser
Sheni
xxii
ABBREVIATIONS
Other rabbinic texts

ARN Abot de Rabbi Nathan,
'A'
text, numbered according to the 1987
translation
of
M•
Angeles Navarro Peir6
F L. Finkelstein's 1939 edition ofSifre to Deuteronomy
H H.S. Horovitz's 1917 edition ofSifre to Numbers
K Codex Kaufmann
of
the Mishnah
L J .Z. Lauterbach's 1933-35 edition
of
Mekhilta
Mek Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael (followed by Exodus chapter and verse
reference)
PesR Pesiqta Rabbati
PRE Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer. numbered according to the 1984 translation
of
M.
Perez Fernandez
S S. Schechter's 1887 edition
of
Abot de Rabbi Nathan
SDt Sifre to Deuteronomy
SLv Sifra (followed by Leviticus chapter and verse reference)
SNm Sifre to Numbers
j Talmud Jerushalmi (Jerusalem.
or

Palestinian. Talmud)
Tos Tosefta (according to
MSS Erfurt and Vienna)
W I.H. Weiss's 1862 edition
of
Sifra
Books
of
the Bible
Gn Ex Lv Nm Dt
los
Jg I S 2 S I K 2 K Is Jr Ezk Ho Jl
Am
Ob Jon Me Na
HbZpHgZc
MIPslbPrRuCaEc
LmEstDn
EzrNe
I C
2C
Mt
Mk Lk Jn Act Rm I Co 2 Co Gal Eph Ph Col I T 2 T Tit Phlm Hbr Jm
I
P I J 2 J 3 J Ju Rv
Other abbreviations (see also Bibliography)
AH Archaic Hebrew (of early biblical poetry and
of
inscriptions)
BH ('Classical') Biblical Hebrew (especially
of

pre-exilic prose)
LBH Late Biblical Hebrew
RH Rabbinic Hebrew
RH1
Rabbinic Hebrew
of
the
tannaim ('Mishnaic Hebrew')
RH2 Rabbinic Hebrew
of
the amoraim
INTRODUCTION
I.
The language
of
the Torah
by
itself, the language
of
the wise
by
itself
The student who reads a Rabbinic Hebrew text for the first time will usually
be
surprised and somewhat disconcerted by a series
of
striking differences
from the grammar
of
Biblical Hebrew, among them the following:

Merger
of
final
mem
and nun, with masculine plurals usually ending
in
nun;
Relative particle
-fl,i
instead
of
,rp~;
Genitive particle
~iZJ
•of', partially replacing the construct chain
of
classical Biblical Hebrew;
Very frequent use ofi1:iJ •be' with participle;
Complete disappearance
of
the wow-consecutive;
Loss
of
the infinitive absolute and
of
special forms for the cohorta-
tive and jussive.
Nowadays, Rabbinic Hebrew is generally treated as an historically dis-
tinct phase
of

the Hebrew language, and the saying attributed to Rabbi
Jo~anan
in AZ
58b-the
language
of
the Torah
by
itself, the language
of
the
wise by
itself-reflects
early awareness
of
its distinctiveness.
In the development
of
Hebrew, four major periods are discernible:
BH
(Biblical Hebrew), RH (Rabbinic Hebrew),
MH
(Mediaeval Hebrew), and
IH
(Israeli,
or
Modem, Hebrew). This wide-ranging classification allows for
further subdivision and transitional phases. Thus,
BH
can be subdivided into

Archaic Hebrew (AH), the Hebrew
of
archaic poetry; Biblical Hebrew (BH)
proper, the standard language
of
pre-exilic prose writings;
and
post-exilic,
or
Late Biblical, Hebrew (LBH), whereas RH naturally divides into Early
Rabbinic Hebrew
(RHI),
the language
of
the tannaim; and Late Rabbinic
Hebrew (RH2), the language
of
the amoraim. This study will focus on
RHI.
2. Tannaitic Hebrew (
RH
1)
and
Amoraic Hebrew (
RH2)
In political terms, the tannaitic period is that
of
the •restoration'
of
Judaism

after the disasters
of
70 and 135 CE; from a literary and theological perspec-
tive, this period witnesses the compilation, classification, and editing
of
an
immense corpus
of
oral law, which
is
presented, and defended, as being a
logical development
of
the written law
of
the Bible. The vast literature that
emerged over this period (from 70
CE
until halfway through the third cen-
tury) is evidence
of
the enormous labour and exceptional ability
of
the tan-
2
INTRODUCflON
naitic teachers who developed the Mishnah, Tosefta, halakhic midrashim
(Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Mekhilta de Rabbi Shimeon ben YoJni, Sifra to
Leviticus,
Sifre to Numbers and to Deuteronomy, Sifre Zuna. etc.), as well

as non-halakhic works such as
Seder Olam Rabbah.
The language
of
these works clearly differs from BH. as is evident from
the most cursory examination, and also has features that distinguish it from
the Hebrew
of
the amoraim (RH2), who. from the fourth century, compiled
the Jerusalem Talmud, early haggadic and homiletic
midrashim (Genesis
Rabbah, Leviticus Rabbah,
Pesiqta de Rab Kahana), and the Babylonian
Talmud. The main difference is that in the RH2 period Hebrew began
to
die
out as a spoken language. being replaced in this
role by Aramaic. Other fea-
tures include the enormous Aramaic influence on RH2 in morphology. vo-
cabulary. and grammar. the large number
of
Graecisms, and a return to bibli-
cal vocabulary and constructions. Indeed, the dictum
of
Rabbi
Jo~an
given
earlier occurs in connection with the claim
of
a Babylonian amora that the

plural form
c•':ln! 'sheep'. attested in the Bible, was more correct than
ni':ln,. E.Y. Kutscher (1972b, 57) makes the important point that
if
aBHor
Aramaic form is not found in the tannaim but 'reappears' in RH2, it was
probably never employed
by
the tannaim at all but is an amoraic innovation
M.
Bar-Asher (1990a. 208) lists three characteristic features
of
RH2 (see
also Sokoloff 1%9): the demonstrative
~'i?iJ.
first person singular imperfect
with initial
nun (reflecting Aramaic influence), and the expression
~iTv,m
·something' used in the sense
oniT~-',~
'a
little'. While some RH2 texts can
give the appearance
of
a linguistic mosaic. other amoraic compositions, such
as Midrash Rabbah to
Song
of
Songs (see Giron 1988-89; 1990), employ the

language and style
of
the tannaim.
3.
RH
1,
a spoken language
Given the highly technical nature
of
tannaitic literature (legal, halakhic, ex-
egetical), we have to specify what is meant when we say that RHI was a
spoken language. It could have been spoken just in academic circles, for
teaching
or
in
court-in
the same way that Latin was used in mediaeval
scholarship and, until quite recently, in the Roman Catholic
church-but
not
in everyday life. We know, in any case, that the early rabbinic texts in the
form they are preserved in the Mishnah postdate any original spoken version
of
such material by a considerable period, during which the writing down
of
the oral law
was
prohibited (see Rabin 1976, 1008; Sternberger 1996,
31-
44) although there were a few incomplete collections

of
written halakhot,
systematic editing
of
such works is assumed not to have begun until around
300CE.
Even so. these considerations do not mean that RHl should not be re-
garded as a popular, spoken language. Indeed, it is generally believed that the
INTRODUCflON 3
Dead
Sea Scrolls. specifically the Copper Scroll and also the Bar-Kokhba let-
ters, have furnished clear evidence
of
the popular character
of
MH.
Moreover, the faithfulness and care with which oral traditions can be trans-
mitted is well known. For example. in the Mishnah (Eduy 1.3) it is stated that
•each person has to speak in the language
of
his teacher'; however this is to
be understood exactly. it clearly functions as a guarantee
of
fidelity
of
transmission
of
rabbinic statements, and in the light
of
this it comes as no

surprise that the Mishnah itself records sayings
of
Hillel in Aramaic (Abot
1.13
),
doubtless because they were originally formulated in that language.
Finally, without denying the technical nature
of
most tannaitic literature, the
language
of
which would clearly have differed from the daily vernacular,
within the tannaitic corpus itself there are also popular sayings and parables
(meshalim). exempla (ma'asiyyot). testimonies, and descriptive narratives re-
lating to. for example, the royal liturgy in
SoJ
7.8
or
the festival
of
first fruits
in Bik
3.2-8. which display a more lucid and popular style.
In
terms
of
dialect geography, at the time
of
the tannaim Palestine could
be divided into the Aramaic-speaking regions

of
Galilee and Samaria and a
smaller area, in Judaea, in which Rabbinic Hebrew was used among the de-
scendants
of
returning exiles.
To
the south
of
Palestine, North Arabian di-
alects would have been spoken, while in the north there were probably a few
isolated areas where Phoenician was
still spoken. Greek would have been
predominant in Hellenistic cities and, along with Latin, was employed
as
the
language
of
Roman administration. used in official documents and inscrip-
tions as well as
in
politics and commerce. There would also have been lan-
guages spoken by Jews in the diaspora, as well as Biblical Hebrew with its
prestigious and insistent presence in the temple cult and synagogue liturgy. It
is not simply that at this time there were many languages spoken in Palestine
but that the same person would speak a variety
of
languages.
To
be more

precise, the following three situations are possible (following Rabin 1976).
1.
Bilingualism/multilingualism. typical. for example.
of
exiles who re-
turned speaking both Hebrew and Aramaic or
of
the children
of
marriages
of
Hebrew- and
Aramaic-speakers~
2.
Lingua franca, used by speakers
of
different native languages who
would adopt it as a common
•second' language for communication among
themselves in, for example, the realms
of
administration, commerce, or
liturgy-such
a language does not require perfect fluency, and, for commer-
cial purposes, for example, an elementary knowledge
suffices;
3.
Diglossia,
or
the use, as determined by social convention,

of
a native
language at two levels. popular and literary, is found
to
some extent in all
languages (it is particularly striking in the differences between spoken and
literary Arabic), and it is noticeable that switching between levels is not easy
for all speakers.
It is obvious, then, that all three situations would have been commonly
4
INTRODUCflON
found, and it is against this background that the use by the same writer
of
Hebrew and Aramaic
or
the abundant production
at
this time
of
Jewish litera-
ture in
Greek-the
New Testament, apocrypha, pseudepigrapha,
etc is
to
be explained.
As a lingua franca, Greek was doubtless employed in a myriad different
day-to-day situations, and
BH
would have served a similar function in litur-

gical contexts.
Given the different stages and styles
of
RH. we may conclude that
Hebrew-speakers could have found themselves in a situation
of
diglossia,
with the language
of
the Mishnah and midrashim belonging to a level that re-
quired a relatively high degree
of
education in order to understand its gram-
mar
and terminology.
Bearing
in
mind the small area in which
it
took
root-post-exilic
Judaea-it
is generally accepted that the decisive factor in the extinction
of
RHl
in Palestine was the suppression
of
the Bar-Kokhba revolt in 135, with
the consequent ravaging
of

the land, deportations, and an exodus
to
Galilee.
Although we know that even in the fourth century Hebrew was still used
in Palestine for conversation
(,1:!117 .,:;u'), along with Greek, Latin, and
Aramaic (see
Mishor
t 989), its linguistic isolation and the transfer
of
Judaean intellectuals
to
Galilee caused RH to lose its literary character and
the ability to develop. In Aramaic-speaking Galilee, the descendants
of
Judaean exiles found it increasingly difficult to maintain
RHI
as a living lan-
guage, with the result that Aramaic became dominant and a new scholarly
language, RH2, emerged (see Kutscher t972b, 57ff.).
4. Foreign influence in vocabulary
Given the sociolinguistic facts as described, it is hardly surprising that we
find incorporated in RHI many features
of
vocabulary and grammar from the
surrounding languages. Recent studies suggest that about half the vocabulary
of
RH I coincides with that
of
BH. while

of
the remainder, a large proportion
is shared with Aramaic. with a significant number
of
Greek-and
to a lesser
extent
Latin-loanwords,
as well as words
of
Akkadian
or
Persian origin.
4.1
The legacy
of
Hebrew
We
begin with an obvious fact. namely, that the Bible does not include all
the Hebrew vocabulary spoken in biblical times.
In
the light
of
this, it is quite
possible that
RH
has conserved a number
of
ancient-but
non-biblical-

Hebrew words. Among those recognized as falling into this category are
,tO
'return',
109
'harvest
olives',
,~l}
'uproot',
T'l;\ 'necessary', and
':line!!
'spleen'.
INTRODUCTION
5
For some words. early forms. not found in BH. have been preserved. for
example, the
singular•':?•':?
'night' (Nid 4.4) as against BH
il'?~'?.
':l•'?
and
':l•':?;
whereas
':l•'?
and
':l•?.
are secondary forms resulting from the loss
of
the
second diphthong, il'?:'? results from the reduction
of

this diphthong (*lay lay
> laylii. with the final
he
as mater lectionis), and it is only in RH that the
shape
of
the original form
of
the word has persisted (see Bar-Asher 1990a,
204).
As might be expected, BH words commonly undergo semantic develop-
ment in RH, for example
iT.pl?
'grain' >
'money',
;rrtf9 'doorpost' >
'mezuzah (attached to doorpost)', C'?iD 'eternity' >
'world',
,t~
'cut'
>
'decree''
nj?'{
'take' > 'buy'. and
~.P,Q
'deed' > 'event'.
A word that has thus acquired a new meaning will sometimes undergo a
change in its morphological shape (see Unit
9)
or

in its gender
or
number
(see Unit 10); note. for example. the forms.
iT'?';,~
'food'.
~·':liJ
'walk'.
i~:!l:!>
'honour'
·1'='iT
Qat
'go'.
Pi'el 'walk about'.
4.2 The influence
of
Aramaic
Perhaps as a reaction to earlier scholarship, which had viewed Mishnaic
Hebrew as
an
artificial
language-either
Hebraized Aramaic
or
Aramaized
Hebrew-M.H.
Segal understated the influence
of
Aramaic on RH. In fact,
without detracting from the independent status

of
RHI,
the presence
of
Aramaic is obvious. not simply in loanwords and loan-translations but also in
the basic grammatical structure
of
the language. in the inflection
of
nouns
and verbs. as the following examples demonstrate.
I. Pronominal suffixes
of
the second person singular masculine and
feminine
in
T;
or
1- (see Unit 4.4).
2.
The imperatives
'1!'1
'be·
(singular)
and
i1i)
'be'
(plural), alongside the
corresponding Hebrew forms
'1!1

and
11!J
(see Unit 21.5).
3.
The second person singular masculine pronoun
~.
perhaps an archaic
dialect form (see Nm I 1.15) that has re-emerged under Aramaic influence
(see Unit 1.4B).
4. M. Moreshet (1980a) registered 210 RHI verbs derived from Aramaic
as against
241
from BH.
5.
Common words like
t9~
'father',
~~
'mother',
iT~
'hour',
and
1'109
'mammon, wealth' are Aramaic loanwords.
6. New nouns are frequently patterned according to the Aramaic mor-
phological patterns
iT~
and
~piJ
(see Unit 9.5-6). Aramaic vocalization

can also displace what would be expected in Hebrew, for example
':l'?:;>
'general rule, generalization'
for':li':l~.
7. Aramaic influence is also visible in the addition to il'?'t:>j?-type nouns
of
the suffix rn-, expressing verbal action (see Unit 9
.I
0), for example
rn':l·o~
'fulfilment, act
of
fulfilling',~·¢~
'elevation, act
of
raising
up'.