Bible HebrewWeak Verbs 2: Hollow and Doubled Roots
Roots with a weak middle letter (קָם, יָקוּם, וַיָּקָם) and roots with twin letters.
Weak verbs 2: hollow roots and doubled roots
Some roots have ו or י as their middle letter. That letter is so weak it shows up only as a long vowel, or not at all. These are called hollow roots. In “he did” (the perfect) you see just two letters: קָם “he arose”.
| Root (dictionary form) | He did | He will | And he (story form) |
|---|---|---|---|
| קוּם arise | קָם he arose | יָקוּם he will arise | וַיָּקָם and he got up (Jonah 1:3) |
| שׁוּב return | שָׁב he returned | יָשׁוּב he will turn back | וַיָּשָׁב and he returned (Genesis 22:19) |
| שִׂים put | שָׂם he put | יָשִׂים he will put | וַיָּשֶׂם and he put (Genesis 2:8) |
| בּוֹא come | בָּא he came | יָבוֹא he will come | וַיָּבֹא and he went in (Genesis 7:7) |
Clues. The prefix has ā (יָקוּם), not the i of יִשְׁמֹר “he will keep”. In “he will …” the middle letter shows as a vowel: וּ, ִי or וֹ. In the story form the word gets shorter and the vowel changes: יָקוּם “he will arise”, but וַיָּקָם “and he arose”.
In a dictionary, hollow verbs are listed under a form that shows the middle letter: קוּם, שׁוּב, שִׂים, בּוֹא. You already know קוּם as the command “Get up!” (Jonah 1:2). So when you see קָם or וַיָּקָם, put the ו back. Keep שָׁב “he returned” apart from יָשַׁב “he sat”: יָשַׁב has a third letter, a first י.
Doubled roots have the same letter twice at the end, like סבב “go around”. Sometimes both letters show: סָבְבוּ “they went around” (Joshua 6:15). Often the two merge into one letter with a doubling dot: וַיָּסֹבּוּ “and they went around” (2 Kings 3:9). Sometimes only one is written: תַּם “it is spent” (Genesis 47:18), from תמם “be finished”. So if a verb seems to have only two root letters, try a ו or י in the middle, or a doubled last letter.
Check yourself
Which root type has ו or י in the middle?
✓ hollow · I-nun · first letter א · I-yod/waw
Hollow roots have ו or י as their middle letter, like קוּם “rise”. That middle letter often disappears, so the root looks empty in the middle.
Which root does וַיָּקָם “and he rose” come from (Genesis 4:8)?
✓ קום · יקם · נקם · קמה
קוּם is a hollow root: its middle ו is not written in וַיָּקָם.
Which vowel does the prefix usually take in a hollow verb?
✓ ā, as in יָקוּם · i, as in יִשְׁמֹר · ē, as in יֵשֵׁב · ō, as in יֹאמַר
In יָקוּם “he will rise”, the prefix י has ā, and only ק and מ show around the וּ. Ordinary verbs have i there, as in יִשְׁמֹר “he will keep”.
Where do you look up קָם “he arose” in a dictionary?
✓ under קוּם, the form that shows the middle ו · under קָם, as it is written · under יקם · under קמם
Dictionaries list hollow verbs with their middle letter: קוּם, שׁוּב, שִׂים, בּוֹא.
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