Biblical Hebrew Forum

[dwashbur AT nyx.net]

On 2 Mar 2011 at 16:20, Sébastien Louis wrote:

>
> Hello,
>
> could someone explain how the terme  is
> constructed and on what it is based? The sentence is (Ex 1, 1):
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I guess it comes from the article "ha" and the verb "ba" (to come)
> and means "coming" or "who came". If so, what kind of construction
> is this? And why is there noun plural (-im) on a verb?
>
> Sorry for these questions that might sound stupid to most of you,
> but I'm a beginner...
>
> Thanks a lot to all,
>
> Sébastien Louis
> Belgium

Don't worry, nobody is born knowing this stuff, we all had to learn it from 
the beginning at
some point.

The word is a participle.  You are correct that it comes from BW).  The form 
is a masculine
plural participle, a form that in this case "nouns" the verb.  That's why it 
can take the definite
article H at the front, and the YM ending is the masculine plural.  Your 
rendering is correct:
"these are the names of the sons of Israel, the ones who came to Egypt..."  
In English we
make it into a noun with a subordinate clause, "the ones who," whereas 
biblical Hebrew just
uses a participle with the appropriate noun affixes.

Hope this helps,

Dave Washburn

http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur