Unit 12

Construct Chains
Unit Description:
What is the difference between "a wood chest" and "a chest of wood"? In this unit we learn how
Hebrew marks the "of" relationship. We will illustrate this relationship discussing some verses
from Genesis.

New Words in this Unit 15

Total New Words 180

Unit 12
177
 Vocabulary
Category Hebrew Transliteration Pronunciation English
‫א ֶֹהל‬ ’ṓhel ’óhel tent (m.s.)
‫ֲארוֹן‬ ’ărôn ’aron chest, ark (m.s.)
palace,
‫יכל‬
ָ ‫ֵה‬ hêkāl hekhal
temple (m.s.)
enclosure,
‫ָח ֵצר‬ hāsēr hatser
courtyard (b.s.)
all, each, every,
‫כֹּל‬ kōl kol
Nouns the whole (m.s.)
utensil, article,
‫ְכּ ִלי‬ kəlî kəli
vessel (m.s.)
prophet,
‫ָביא‬
ִ‫נ‬ nābî’ navi
spokesman (m.s.)
copper,
‫נְ ח ֶֹשׁת‬ nəhṓšet nəhóshet
bronze (m.s.)
‫ְתּ ִפ ָלּה‬ təpillāh təfila prayer (f.s.)
‫ִמ ְצ ַריִ ם‬ misráyim mitsráyim Egypt
Proper ‫מֹ ֶשׁה‬ mōšeh moshe Moses
Nouns ‫ִסינַי‬ sînay sinay Sinai
‫ֵע ָשׂו‬ ‘ēśāw ’esav Esau
‫ִה ִבּיט‬ hibbît hibit he looked
Verbs
‫ָשׁ ַלח‬ šālah shalah he sent

m. = masculine f. = feminine b. = both m. and f. s. = singular

Unit 12
178
Slides from the Unit

Unit 12
179
Unit 12
180
Unit 12
181
Unit 12
182
Unit 12
183
Unit 12
184
Unit 12
185
Unit 12
186
 Grammatical Remarks
In these units we meet the “construct chain,” which is the Hebrew method of combining two (or
more) nouns so that one noun describes the other noun in some way.

Construct Chains
Most languages have some method of combining two nouns so that one of the nouns describes
the other. With English compound nouns, the compound noun construction “X Y” can usually be
expanded into “Y of X.” For example, “a straw hut” could also be called “a hut of straw.” The
“of” between two nouns (whether written or implicit in a compound) can express a number of
different relationships between those nouns, depending on the nouns and their context. Some
examples:
“Tree house” - Place: the house is built in the tree
“Straw hut” - Material: the hut is made from straw
“Summer home” - Time: the home is visited in the summer
“Lighthouse” - Purpose: the house sends out light
“Police car” – Possession: the car belongs to the police
In a compound construction, there is always one noun that expresses the central idea,
accompanied by a second noun that describes the central one. In the English “X Y” or “Y of X”
construction, Y is central and X is used as a modifier. For example, in “tree house,” “house” is
the main idea, and “tree” tells us something about the house.
The Hebrew method for combining two nouns in an adjectival relationship may be compared to
the English construction “XY” (e.g. “wood chest”), in which the words are placed directly next
to each other. The Hebrew construction, however, follows the order of the English construction
“Y of X” (e.g. “chest of wood”) by putting the central noun before the describing noun. For
example, “a chest of wood” appears in Hebrew as ‫ארוֹן ֵעץ‬ ֲ . This Hebrew method of
compounding two nouns is described as a “construct chain.” Like in English, the “of”
relationship expressed by this combination of two (or more) nouns may express many different
semantic relationships (place, possession, material, etc.); but the grammatical construction is
always the same.

Unit 12
187
Signs of a Construct Chain: 1. Maqaf 2. Construct Form
There are two possible indicators that two (or more) words are in a construct chain. One is that
there may be a maqaf, the line [ ‫ ] ־‬that connects two words so that they are pronounced together
and function like a single word. Regardless of whether or not the maqaf appears (it often does
not), the words in a construct chain are always treated like a single word. This means that
the first noun(s) in the chain loses its accent, which sometimes causes its vowels to change (the
second indicator of a construct chain). The changed form is called the “construct form” of the
noun, as opposed to the “absolute form” that the noun has when it appears by itself or as the last
word of a construct chain. For example, we can see in the construct chain ‫תוּאל‬ֵ ‫“ ֶבּן־ ְבּ‬the son
of Bethuel” how the absolute form ‫ ֵבּן‬changes from a long [ē] to a short [e] in the construct
form ‫ ֶבּן‬when this word begins a construct chain. This change from a long vowel to a short
vowel in a construct form is very common. In class we discussed some basic rules for how the
vowels of a noun may change in a construct form. (The vowels may also change in other ways
aside from these rules – this is just a place to start.)

Basic Changes
1. A long [ā] vowel in a final closed syllable changes to a short [a] vowel (e.g. absolute ‫ָים‬
vs. construct ‫)יַם‬. Again, this happens because the construct noun is no longer considered
a word by itself. Instead, it joins the following absolute noun to become a single word
whose accent remains with the absolute noun, so the construct noun loses its stress.
2. The long vowels [ā] and [ē], when unstressed, change into a shewa [ə] (e.g. absolute
‫ָביא‬ִ ‫ נ‬vs. construct ‫)נְ ִביא‬. When this rule applies to the long vowels [ā] and [ē] under a
guttural letter, a reduced vowel is used instead of a shewa.
3. The long vowel [ē] sometimes changes to a short [a] in a final closed syllable (e.g.
absolute ‫ָקן‬
ֵ ‫ ז‬vs. construct ‫) ְז ַקן‬. In most cases, however, the long [ē] remains
unchanged.

Feminine Singular Suffix

The basic rule of regular feminine singular nouns is that the [āh] ending changes to [at] in the
construct form (e.g. absolute ‫מ ְל ָכּה‬
ַ vs. construct ‫) ַמ ְל ַכּת‬.
Plural Suffixes
The regular masculine plural [îm] ending changes to [ê] in the construct form (e.g. absolute
‫אָכים‬ִ ‫ ַמ ְל‬vs. construct ‫) ַמ ְל ֲא ֵכי‬. The regular feminine plural [ôt] ending remains unchanged in
the construct form (e.g. ‫ חוֹמוֹת‬is both absolute and construct). The other vowel changes
discussed above still apply to both masculine and feminine plural words.

Unit 12
188
 Homework
1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the
appropriate word under each picture below.

‫א ֶֹהל‬ ‫ָביא ָח ֵצר‬

ִ‫נ‬ ‫ֵע ָשׂו‬ ‫יכל‬
ָ ‫ֵה‬ ‫מ ֶֹשׁה‬ ‫ִמ ְצ ַריִ ם‬ ‫ֲארוֹן‬

a) ‫ֵע ָשׂו‬ b) c)

d) e)

f) g) h)

Unit 12
189
2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English.

‫ָשׁים ֲא ֶשׁר־ ָשׁ ַלח מ ֶֹשׁה‬

ִ ‫( ָה ֲאנ‬Num. 13:16) the men whom Moses sent

‫( ְכּ ִלי ָטהוֹר‬Isa. 66:20)

‫( ֶאל־ ַה ְתּ ִפ ָלּה‬1 Kings 8:29)

‫( לֹא־ ִה ִבּיט‬Num. 23:21)

‫( ָכּל־ ִאישׁ וְ ִא ָשּׁה‬Exod. 35:29)

‫( ַעל־ ַהר ִסינַי‬Exod. 19:20)

‫( נְ ַחשׁ נְ ח ֶֹשׁת‬Num. 21:9)

3. Translate the construct chains below. Think about what kind of relationship
might be expressed in each phrase.

‫חוֹמה‬
ָ ‫ֶא ֶבן‬ a stone of a wall (a stone that is located in a wall)

‫חוֹמת ֲא ָבנִ ים‬

ַ
‫ִעיר ָח ָמס‬
‫ֲח ַמס ִעיר‬
‫ֵעץ גַּן‬
‫גַּן ֵע ִצים‬
‫ִאישׁ ָח ְכ ָמה‬
‫ָח ְכ ַמת ִאישׁ‬

Unit 12
190
4. Read the following rules about the creation of construct forms. Then match the
absolute forms on the left to their construct forms on the right and write the
number(s) of the rule(s) that apply in each case.
ָ
1. [ ā / ] → [ a / ַ ] in a final closed syllable
2. unstressed [ ē / ֵ ] / [ ā / ָ ] → [ ə /ְ] (or a reduced vowel)

3. [ ē / ֵ ] → [ a / ַ ] in a final closed syllable in some words (but usually

remains unchanged)
4. feminine singular ending [ āh / ‫ [ → ] ָה‬at / ‫] ַת‬
Absolute Construct Rules Applied
‫ָח ֵצר‬ ‫ְמקוֹם‬
‫ָמקוֹם‬ ‫ְל ַבב‬
‫ָשׂ ָפה‬ ‫ֲח ַצר‬ 2 and 3
‫ִמ ְשׁ ָפּט‬ ‫ְשׂ ַפת‬
‫ֵל ָבב‬ ‫ִמ ְשׁ ַפּט‬
‫ָע ָפר‬ ‫ְתּ ִפ ַלּת‬
‫ְתּ ִפ ָלּה‬ ‫ְז ַקן‬
‫ָקן‬ֵ‫ז‬ ‫ֲפר‬ַ‫ע‬

Unit 12
191
 Homework Answers
1. Read aloud the following words from the vocabulary list and write the
appropriate word under each picture below.
a) ‫ֵע ָשׂו‬ b) ‫ארוֹן‬
ֲ c) ‫ֹהל‬
ֶ‫א‬ d) ‫יכל‬
ָ ‫ֵה‬
e) ‫ֹשׁה‬ֶ‫מ‬ f) ‫ָח ֵצר‬ g) ‫ִמ ְצ ַריִ ם‬ h) ‫ָביא‬
ִ‫נ‬

2. Translate the following phrases from Hebrew into English.

‫ָשׁים ֲא ֶשׁ ֿר־ ָשׁ ַלח מ ֶֹשׁה‬ ִ ‫( ָה ֲאנ‬Num. 13:16) the men whom Moses sent
‫( ְכּ ִלי ָטהוֹר‬Isa. 66:20) a clean vessel
‫( ֶא ֿל־ ַה ְתּ ִפ ָלּה‬1 Kings 8:29) to the prayer
‫( לֹא־ ִה ִבּיט‬Num. 23:21) he did not look
‫( ָכּל־ ִאישׁ וְ ִא ָשּׁה‬Exod. 35:29) every man and woman
‫( ַעל־ ַהר ִסינַי‬Exod. 19:20) on Mount Sinai
‫( נְ ַחשׁ נְ ח ֶֹשׁת‬Num. 21:9) a bronze serpent (“a serpent of
bronze”)

3. Translate the construct chains below. Think about what kind of relationship
might be expressed in each phrase.

‫חוֹמה‬ ָ ‫ֶא ֶבן‬ a stone of a wall (a stone that is located in a wall)

‫חוֹמת ֲא ָבנִ ים‬
ַ a wall of stones
‫ִעיר ָח ָמס‬ a city of violence
‫ֲח ַמס ִעיר‬ violence of a city
‫ֵעץ גַּן‬ a tree of a garden
‫גַּן ֵע ִצים‬ a garden of trees
‫ִאישׁ ָח ְכ ָמה‬ a man of wisdom
‫ָח ְכ ַמת ִאישׁ‬ wisdom of a man
(a wall that is made out of stones)
(a city that does violence, or a city in which
violence is done)
(violence done in, by, or against a city)
(a tree located in a garden)
(a garden that contains trees)
(a man who possesses wisdom; a wise man)
(wisdom possessed by a man)

Unit 12
192
4. Read the following rules about the creation of construct forms. Then match the
absolute forms on the left to their construct forms on the right and write the
number(s) of the rule(s) that apply in each case.
ָ
1. [ ā / ] → [ a / ַ ] in a final closed syllable
2. unstressed [ ē / ֵ ] / [ ā / ָ ] → [ ə /ְ] (or a reduced vowel)

3. [ ē / ֵ ] → [ a / ַ ] in a final closed syllable in some words (but usually

remains unchanged)
4. feminine singular ending [ āh / ‫ [ → ] ָה‬at / ‫] ַת‬
Absolute Construct Rules Applied
‫ָח ֵצר‬ ‫ֲח ַצר‬ 2 and 3
‫ָמקוֹם‬ ‫ְמקוֹם‬ 2
‫ָשׂ ָפה‬ ‫ְשׂ ַפת‬ 2 and 4
‫ִמ ְשׁ ָפּט‬ ‫ִמ ְשׁ ַפּט‬ 1
‫ֵל ָבב‬ ‫ְל ַבב‬ 1 and 2
‫ָע ָפר‬ ‫ֲפר‬ַ‫ע‬ 1 and 2
‫ְתּ ִפ ָלּה‬ ‫ְתּ ִפ ַלּת‬ 4
‫ָקן‬ֵ‫ז‬ ‫ְז ַקן‬ 2 and 3

Unit 12
193
 Recommended Bibliography
1. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, As Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, Second
English Ed. Revised in accordance with the Twenty-eighth German Ed. by A. E. Cowley,
Oxford, 1910. (§89, §128 = pp. 247-48, 414-19)
2. Joüon, P., Muraoka, T., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rome, 1996.
(§92, §129 = pp. 275-77, 463-73)
3. Lambdin, T.O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Norwich, 1976.
(§72-73, §75-76, §78-79 = pp. 67-70, 73-75, 77-79)

Unit 12
194