Bible HebrewCommands & Wishes
“Hear!”, “Don’t!”, “Let us go”, “Let there be light”.
Commands and wishes: “Hear!”, “Let us go”, “Let there be light”
A command is the imperfect without its prefix: תִּשְׁמַע “you will hear” becomes שְׁמַע “Hear!”, as in שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל “Hear, O Israel” (Deuteronomy 6:4). Endings show who is told:
| Who is told | “Hear!” | Where |
|---|---|---|
| one, masculine: a man, or a whole people spoken to as one person | שְׁמַע | God to Abraham: “listen to her voice” (Genesis 21:12); Moses to all Israel: “Hear, O Israel” (Deuteronomy 6:4) |
| one, feminine: a woman, or a city or people pictured as a woman | שִׁמְעִי | שִׁמְעִי־בַת “Listen, daughter” (Psalm 45:11) |
| more than one | שִׁמְעוּ | שִׁמְעוּ שָׁמַיִם “Hear, O heavens” (Isaiah 1:2) |
Some very common ones are short: קוּם לֵךְ אֶל־נִינְוֵה “Get up, go to Nineveh” (Jonah 1:2). נָא softens a command: קַח־נָא אֶת־בִּנְךָ “Take your son” (Genesis 22:2).
“Don't!” The command form is never made negative. Instead, אַל goes with the imperfect: אַל־תִּשְׁלַח יָדְךָ “Do not lay your hand (on the boy)” (Genesis 22:12). לֹא with the imperfect is the lasting “you shall not”: לֹא תִּגְנֹב.
“Let me”, “let us”: the I or we imperfect with ־ָה on the end: נֵלְכָה דֹּתָיְנָה “Let us go to Dothan” (Genesis 37:17), אֵלֲכָה נָּא וְאָשׁוּבָה “Let me go back” (Exodus 4:18).
“Let him”, “may he”: the he, she or they imperfect, often in a shorter form: יְהִי אוֹר “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3), the short form of יִהְיֶה “it will be”, and יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה “May yəḥawwe bless you” (Numbers 6:24).
Check yourself
How is a command like שְׁמַע “Hear!” made?
✓ from the imperfect, without its prefix · from the perfect, with an ending · by adding אַל · by putting נָא in front
Take the prefix off תִּשְׁמַע “you will hear”, and you get the command שְׁמַע “Hear!”.
Who is told to hear in שִׁמְעוּ שָׁמַיִם (Isaiah 1:2)?
✓ more than one: “Hear, O heavens” · one man · one woman · “we”
The ending ־וּ makes the command plural.
What does קוּם לֵךְ mean (Jonah 1:2)?
✓ Get up, go! · He got up and went. · He will rise and go. · to rise and to go
Two short commands: קוּם “get up”, לֵךְ “go”.
How do you say “Don’t …!” to someone?
✓ אַל with the imperfect: אַל־תִּשְׁלַח · לֹא with the command form · אַל with the command form · the command form with נָא
The command form itself is never made negative: אַל־תִּשְׁלַח יָדְךָ “Do not lay your hand” (Genesis 22:12).
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