Bible HebrewPrepositions with Endings
“To him” אֵלָיו, “before me” לְפָנַי, “from us” מִמֶּנּוּ.
Prepositions with endings: “to him”, “before me”, “from us”
“Me, you, him …” join the end of a preposition, with the endings you know from nouns. There are two kinds.
Short prepositions take the endings straight on: לְ “to”, בְּ “in”, עִם “with”, and אֵת “with”.
| לְ “to, for” | Meaning |
|---|---|
| לִי | to me |
| לְךָ | to you (said to a man) |
| לָךְ | to you (said to a woman) |
| לוֹ | to him |
| לָהּ | to her |
| לָנוּ | to us |
| לָכֶם | to you all |
| לָהֶם | to them |
Longer ones put a י before the ending, so they look plural: אֶל “to”, עַל “on”, לִפְנֵי “before”, אַחֲרֵי “after”, תַּחַת “under”. The ending to know first is ־ָיו “him”:
| Form | Meaning |
|---|---|
| אֵלַי | to me |
| אֵלָיו | to him: וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אַבְרָהָם “and he said to him, Abraham!” (Genesis 22:1) |
| עָלָיו | upon him |
| לְפָנָיו | before him |
| אַחֲרָיו | after him |
מִן “from” doubles itself: מִמֶּנִּי “from me”, מִמֶּנּוּ “from him, from it”. It can also mean “from us”: כְּאַחַד מִמֶּנּוּ “like one of us” (Genesis 3:22). In לֹא תֹאכַל מִמֶּנּוּ (Genesis 2:17) it's “you shall not eat from it”.
“With”: עִמּוֹ “with him”, עִמָּנוּ “with us”, and from אֵת: כִּי יְהוָה אִתּוֹ “for yəḥawwe was with him” (Genesis 39:3).
Check yourself
What does אֵלָיו mean?
✓ to him · to me · his god · to them
אֶל “to” with ־ָיו “him”: וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו “and he said to him” (Genesis 22:1).
Why does עָלָיו “upon him” have a י before the ending?
✓ longer prepositions such as עַל take the endings plural nouns take · it is plural: “upon them” · the י means “my” · it marks a question
Longer prepositions like עַל take a י before the ending, as plural nouns do: עָלָיו “upon him”. Short לְ does not: לוֹ “to him”.
What does לְפָנָיו mean?
✓ before him · before me · his face · after him
לִפְנֵי “before” with ־ָיו “him”: לְפָנָיו “before him”.
Which means “to us”?
✓ לָנוּ · לוֹ · לָהֶם · לִי
לְ “to” with ־נוּ “us”: לָנוּ “to us”.
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