HEBREW · STEP 25
A tree of life: Read the description
Follow a pronoun back to wisdom, and read the linked words that describe her.
In this lesson
From he to she
In the previous reading, hu pointed to Avraham, the person being discussed. Its final alef added no sound. Keep that reading role as you meet another pronoun.
hi
She
Hi is the feminine singular pronoun used for she when speaking about one woman or girl. He supplies h. Hiriq beneath it and the following yod supply i, as in machine. The final alef adds no separate sound here.
Read hi, one syllable. The aid is not the English word high. You already learned hiriq-yod in ani and silent final alef in hu and navi; this word combines those familiar roles.
Hebrew also uses masculine and feminine grammatical forms to refer to things and ideas. A pronoun’s form helps us follow the language, while the surrounding words tell us what it refers to. Today’s source will give you an example.
1. Read הוּא and הִיא. In examples about one man and one woman, which means he and which means she? What is silent at the end?
- hu: he, in the example about one man. Shuruk supplies u.
- hi: she, in the example about one woman. Hiriq-yod supplies i.
Both are one syllable. Their final alef adds no separate sound. The different vowel spellings, not a different final alef, give u and i.
Read life: two yods, two jobs
The next word has familiar marks in a new combination. Follow the letters from right to left rather than guessing from the repeated shape.
cha-YIM
Life
- Het with patah gives cha. Our ch is the sound in Bach, not chair.
- The first yod, יִּ, supplies the consonant y. It carries hiriq beneath it and an inside dot.
- The second yod, י, helps write that i vowel. It does not add another y sound.
- Final mem, ם, supplies m. The last part is yim.
Read cha-YIM: two syllables, with the stronger syllable last. The inside dot marks doubling in the traditional spelling. In our modern Israeli reading model, it does not require a repeated y or an extra syllable here, just as the dotted yod did not require another y in hayam.
Two written yods have different jobs: consonant, then vowel helper. Learn chayyim as the whole word for life in this phrase.
2. Cover the aid and read חַיִּים. Explain its two yods and repair the three-syllable reading “cha-YI-yim.”
cha-YIM, two syllables, with final stress. The first yod supplies y and carries hiriq and the inside dot; the second supports the i vowel. Final mem closes yim.
The repeated written shape does not give two y sounds. The dot adds no separate sound or syllable in this reading. Chayyim means life here.
Let two nouns work together
You already know עֵץ, ets, tree. Put it beside the new word for life:
ets cha-YIM
Tree of life
These two nouns work closely together. The second noun, life, tells us more about the first, tree. This linked-noun relationship is called a construct phrase. Here its natural English meaning is tree of life.
English of expresses the relationship between the nouns. It is not a translation of the raised joining stroke, maqaf. You met that mark in tov ata: it joins words as a reading unit and adds no sound.
Ets keeps its familiar pointing in this particular phrase. Other linked nouns can change form; those changes are future learning. A construct relationship does not always require a maqaf, and a maqaf by itself does not establish that relationship.
3. Read עֵץ־חַיִּים and give its meaning. Does maqaf mean of? Must every construct phrase have that mark or an unchanged first noun?
ets cha-YIM, tree of life. English of expresses how the nouns are linked. Maqaf joins their reading without adding a word or sound.
The familiar form of ets is unchanged here. This one phrase does not show that every first noun stays unchanged or that every construct phrase needs a maqaf.
Wisdom receives the description
Proverbs is a biblical book of wisdom teaching. This passage praises wisdom, named in verse 13. Verse 18 compares her to a tree of life for those who hold fast to her. Read its opening description.
עֵץ־חַיִּים הִיא
She is a tree of life.
The extra marks for chanting are omitted, while the letters, vowel points, inside dot and maqaf remain. Read ets cha-YIM hi.
- Who or what is the statement about?
- Hi, she, is the subject. It points back to wisdom, named earlier in the passage.
- What is said about her?
- The whole phrase ets chayyim, tree of life, is the predicate, the description given to wisdom.
The Hebrew noun for wisdom is grammatically feminine. Hi follows that grammatical reference; it does not introduce a new literal woman. Nor must it refer to ets just because ets appears nearby. Follow the passage’s subject, not simply the nearest word.
The description comes before the pronoun here. Natural English supplies is and a: “She is a tree of life.” Here hi is the subject pronoun, not a separate word for is. Using She in our English rendering preserves this person-like presentation of wisdom.
4. Read עֵץ־חַיִּים הִיא. Identify the whole description, the pronoun and what it refers to. Then give natural English.
ets cha-YIM hi: “She is a tree of life.” Ets chayyim is the whole description/predicate. Hi is the subject, pointing back to wisdom.
The description comes first, but that does not make tree the subject. English supplies is and a in this rendering. The source card gives the opening excerpt, not the entire verse.
A metaphor describes something through an image rather than a literal identification. Here wisdom is spoken of as a life-giving tree. The verse is not identifying wisdom as a physical tree; its continuation speaks of those who hold fast to her.
5. Repair these claims: “Because the verse says she, its subject must be a literal woman”; “wisdom is being identified as a physical tree.”
Hi refers to the grammatically feminine wisdom named earlier. It does not introduce a new woman or point to the nearby ets simply because of its position.
Tree of life is a metaphor describing wisdom. Read the image together with the passage’s subject and continuation, not as a botanical identification.
Change the point of view
These are constructed practice statements, not biblical quotations. In the first, a narrator describes one fictional woman’s family role. In the second, that same woman speaks for herself. Em is the familiar word for mother.
- הִיא אֵם
- אֲנִי אֵם
As in the earlier mother exercise, natural English uses a mother for this role. Read each whole statement in its supplied setting.
6. Read and translate both lines. The woman stays the same; what changes when the pronoun changes?
- הִיא אֵם, hi em: “She is a mother.” Hi points to the woman being discussed.
- אֲנִי אֵם, a-NI em: “I am a mother.” Ani points to the speaker, now the woman herself.
The pronoun changes the point of view. English is/am and a make these examples natural; they are not extra Hebrew words printed in the lines. Both statements are constructed practice.
Next session: retrieve and distinguish
Next time, begin with the models and answers closed. Rebuild these two selected excerpts from their English meanings and references:
- Genesis 20:7: He is a prophet.
- Proverbs 3:18: She is a tree of life.
Write the pointed words if you can, read them, and identify each pronoun’s referent. Explain why the second English description contains of. If you need the revealed model, compare it after making your own attempt and read again.
7. Check both clauses, their readings and their different references
- נָבִיא הוּא, na-VI hu: He is a prophet. Hu refers to Avraham in the Genesis scene.
- עֵץ־חַיִּים הִיא, ets cha-YIM hi: She is a tree of life. Hi refers to wisdom in Proverbs.
The second description links tree and life as tree of life. Of expresses that noun relationship; it is not the meaning of maqaf. Both source excerpts put the description before the pronoun.
Check shuruk in hu, hiriq-yod in hi, silent final alef in both, and the two different yod jobs in chayyim. Keep the two sources and scenes separate; they are not one combined biblical sentence.
If you try this now, return for a fresh attempt next session. Choose a feature to explain in your own words: a vowel spelling, a pronoun’s reference or the linked-noun relationship.
Explore the sources
Proverbs 3 with surrounding English · Chayyim: form and meaning · Ets: the noun and its linked form · Construct relationships, Gesenius’s Hebrew Grammar §89
Locate the three words at the start of verse 18. Use the translation to follow the passage from verse 13 and the rest of verse 18; their other Hebrew forms are future learning.
Keep words, relationships and context together
You can now ask three questions of these short statements: How do the words read? What jobs do they do together? What does the source context tell us? Keep returning to the actual words when an English rendering needs more words or a pronoun needs its reference explained.
Review navi hu for shuruk and silent final alef, or building ani for the hiriq-yod spelling. For a different kind of practice, the optional 23-word practice mixes the earlier word bank.