Bible HebrewWords Hebrew Leaves Unsaid
No “is”, no “have”, no “a”: the words English adds, five verses at a time.
Words Hebrew leaves unsaid
Hebrew says a lot with few words. English has to add some words that the Hebrew leaves unsaid, and older English Bibles print those added words in italics. The word-for-word lines in this app do the same: is in italics means the Hebrew has no word for it.
| What English adds | Why | In a verse |
|---|---|---|
| is, am, are, was | Hebrew has no word for “is”: two words side by side make a sentence | יְהוָה רֹעִי “Yəḥawwe is my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1) |
| I, he, she, you | the verb’s own ending or first letter says who | כִּי עַתָּה יָדַעְתִּי “for now I know” (Genesis 22:12) |
| have | Hebrew says “there is to me”: יֵשׁ or אֵין, then לְ | הֲיֵשׁ לָכֶם אָח “Do you have a brother?” (Genesis 43:7) |
| a, it, that | there is no word for “a”, and “it” is left out when you already know what it is | גַּן “a garden” (Genesis 2:8) |
| a word from the line before | in poetry, the second line borrows a word from the first | Psalm 114:4: the hills skipped too |
No “is”. Cain answers הֲשֹׁמֵר אָחִי אָנֹכִי “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9), word for word “the keeper of my brother, I?”. The time comes from the story: Adam’s “because I was naked” (Genesis 3:10) is word for word “for naked I”.
The person is in the verb. אֶחְסָר “I shall lack” (Psalm 23:1) needs no word for “I”: the א in front says it. Nothing is missing here, so the word-for-word line shows no italics. When Hebrew does add אֲנִי or אָנֹכִי, it puts weight on the person.
“Have”. אֵין לָהּ וָלָד “she had no child” is word for word “there is not to her a child” (Genesis 11:30). Even shorter, Psalm 24:1 says word for word “to yəḥawwe the earth”: the earth is yəḥawwe’s.
Read the whole sentence. When a Hebrew line seems to be missing a word, it usually is, on purpose. Ask what English needs to make it a sentence: “is”, “have”, “a”, or a verb you just read in the line before.
Check yourself
Cain answers God: הֲשֹׁמֵר אָחִי אָנֹכִי (Genesis 4:9). What does he say?
✓ Am I my brother’s keeper? · I kept my brother. · Keep my brother! · My brother is keeping me.
הֲ asks a question, שֹׁמֵר is “keeper”, אָחִי “my brother”, and אָנֹכִי “I”. No word says “am”: English adds it.
Ruth tells Naomi עַמֵּךְ עַמִּי (Ruth 1:16). What does she mean?
✓ Your people are my people. · Your people killed my people. · Go back to your people! · My people are not yours.
Two words and no verb: “your people, my people”. English adds the verb: “Your people are my people.” Ruth is making a promise, so some Bibles say “will be”.
וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹהִים אֶל־מֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו (Exodus 6:2). Who is the “he” in וַיֹּאמֶר?
✓ God · Moses · the people · nobody: it says “I”
וַ then י in front means “and he”. The verse already named God, so “he” is God: “God spoke to Moses and said to him”.
Joseph is asked what he is looking for: אֶת־אַחַי אָנֹכִי מְבַקֵּשׁ (Genesis 37:16). What does he say?
✓ I am looking for my brothers. · My brothers are looking for me. · I looked for my brother yesterday. · Look for my brothers!
אָנֹכִי “I” with מְבַקֵּשׁ “seeking”, and אַחַי “my brothers”. No “am” in the Hebrew: English adds it.
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