Bible HebrewPronoun Endings
Read the person attached to verbs and prepositions.
Endings can name the object
A verb already marks who does the action. An ending on the verb can add who receives it. So one word holds both: the front of the verb says who acts, the end says who it is done to.
The priestly blessing (Numbers 6:24): יְבָרֶכְךָ “may he bless you”, וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ “and may he keep you”.
| In יְבָרֶכְךָ | Tells you |
|---|---|
| יְ at the front | he does it: yəḥawwe blesses |
| ךָ at the end | you receive it: you are blessed |
In וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ the same ending has the vowel ֶ in front of it: ־ֶךָ. It still means “you”. Endings often take a helping vowel like this, so look at the last letters.
The endings on a verb name the one the action is done to:
| Example | Ending | Means |
|---|---|---|
| יַנְחֵנִי “he leads me” (Psalm 23:3) | ־נִי | me |
| יְבָרֶכְךָ “may he bless you” (Numbers 6:24) | ־ךָ | you (said to a man) |
| וַיְטִלֻהוּ “and they hurled him” (Jonah 1:15) | ־הוּ | him |
| עָשָׂנוּ “he made us” (Psalm 100:3) | ־נוּ | us |
They are close to the endings you know from nouns: ־ִי “my” becomes ־נִי “me” on a verb, and ־נוּ is “our” on a noun but “us” on a verb.
Or on אֵת. The object can also sit on the object marker instead: אֹתוֹ “him”, אֹתָם “them”. God created man in his image: “he created him … he created them” (Genesis 1:27).
| Preposition + ending | Meaning |
|---|---|
| לִי | to/for me |
| לוֹ | to/for him |
| לָנוּ | to/for us |
| בּוֹ | in him/it |
| עָלַי | upon me |
| עִמָּנוּ | with us (Isaiah 7:14) |
On a preposition the ending names its object: לוֹ is “to him,” while בּוֹ is “in him/it.” The form of a suffix can vary with the word it joins.
Check yourself
In a verb with a pronoun ending, what does that ending usually name?
✓ the object receiving the action · the subject doing the action · the verb stem · the tense alone
In יְבָרֶכְךָ “may he bless you”, the יְ at the front says who acts, “he”, and the ending ךָ says who receives the action, “you”.
In וַיִּשְׁלָחֵהוּ, who is sent?
✓ him · he (the sender) · me · us
The ending ־הוּ means “him”, the one who receives the action: “and he sent him”.
What does the ending in לָנוּ tell you?
✓ to us, for us · to him, for him · in us · to me, for me
לְ means “to” or “for”, and the ending ־נוּ means “us”: לָנוּ is “to us” or “for us”.
Why do לוֹ and בּוֹ differ in meaning?
✓ They attach the same person to different prepositions · One is always a verb · One is plural · The suffix changes the tense
Both end in ־וֹ “him”. The first letter makes the difference: לְ means “to” or “for”, and בְּ means “in”. So לוֹ is “to him”, and בּוֹ is “in him”.
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