HEBREW · STEP 24
He is a prophet: Follow the pronoun
Read a statement about someone being discussed, and use the scene to work out who he is.
In this lesson
From speaking to speaking about someone
You have read ani, I, which points to the speaker, and ata, singular masculine you, which points to the person addressed. Today you will meet he: a pronoun pointing to someone being talked about.
Keep the question pair from the previous lesson: Who is the statement about? What does it say about them? First, learn the new vowel spelling needed to read the pronoun.
A new vowel spelling: shuruk
You know vav helping to write o in yom. Compare these two spellings carefully.
o
Holam with vav: the dot is above
u
Shuruk: the dot is inside
Shuruk writes u, the vowel in pool. Keep it steady. In this spelling, vav and its inside dot write the vowel together; do not add a v consonant before u. The inside dot has a different job from the dots you used to distinguish bet from vet.
hu
He
He supplies h, and shuruk supplies u: hu. The final alef adds no separate sound here. Read one syllable, not hu-a. This is a new role for alef, different from its vowel-bearing position at the beginning of em or ani.
Hu is the masculine singular pronoun used for he when speaking about one man or boy. Singular means one. We call this third-person reference: the person being talked about, who need not be absent.
Continue with the common modern Israeli reading model used in this sequence. The aids support text reading; Jewish reading traditions vary.
1. Cover the models. Read יוֹם and הוּא. Identify each vav vowel. Does final alef add a syllable?
- yom: holam-vav supplies o.
- hu: shuruk supplies u, as in pool.
Hu has one syllable. Its final alef adds no a or other separate sound. Look at the vowel spelling rather than treating every vav as the same sound.
Read the role: navi
A prophet is a person who speaks on God’s behalf. The Hebrew word here uses familiar vowel signs and the silent final alef you have just met.
na-VI
Prophet
- Nun with qamats gives na.
- Undotted bet supplies v. Hiriq beneath it and the following yod write i, as hiriq-yod did in ani: vi.
- The final alef adds no separate sound in this word.
Blend na-VI: two syllables, with the stronger syllable last. The i is the vowel in machine, not the English name of the letter I. Yod helps write that vowel; it does not add another y syllable.
2. Cover the aid and read נָבִיא. Name its syllables and stronger syllable, then explain bet, the following yod and final alef.
na-VI, two syllables, with final stress. Undotted bet supplies v. Hiriq and helper yod supply i. Final alef adds no separate sound here.
The word means prophet. Neither the yod nor the final alef creates an extra syllable.
Follow he in the Genesis scene
In Genesis 20, Hashem, our reverent way of referring to God, speaks to Avimelech in a dream. Avimelech has taken Sarah, Avraham’s wife. Hashem tells him to return her. Within that command and warning, He describes Avraham with these words.
נָבִיא הוּא
He is a prophet.
The source’s extra marks for chanting are omitted here; the letters and vowel points remain. Read na-VI hu. You know both words, but their relationship matters too.
- Who is the statement about?
- Hu, he, is the subject. In this scene, he points to Avraham.
- What is said about him?
- Navi, prophet, is the predicate. It states his role.
The Hebrew puts the role before the pronoun: prophet + he. Natural English says “He is a prophet.” English supplies is and a in this rendering. Here hu is the subject pronoun he, not a separate word for is.
This is another nominal, or verbless, clause: it joins a subject with a description without a written verb. The description comes first here, as good did in the psalm. Follow the actual words rather than assuming one order for every Hebrew statement.
3. Read נָבִיא הוּא and give natural English. Which word is the subject, and which states the role?
na-VI hu: “He is a prophet.” Hu is the subject, he. Navi is the role stated about him, the predicate.
The Hebrew predicate comes first. Is and a make the English rendering natural; they are not separate words printed in this clause.
The rest of verse 7 speaks of Avraham praying for Avimelech and warns Avimelech against not returning Sarah. Those details belong to the surrounding verse, not to the translation of these two words alone.
4. Does hu refer to God speaking, Avimelech hearing, or Avraham being discussed? What action does the surrounding verse require?
Hu refers to Avraham. He is the person being described as a prophet, not the speaker or the person addressed.
Avimelech must return Sarah. The verse concerns that particular situation. The two-word excerpt is neither the whole verse nor a universal promise about what prayer will accomplish.
Read a fresh statement
The next line is constructed practice, not a biblical quotation. Imagine a narrator describing one fictional male king. Melech is the word for king that you already know.
In this example, natural English uses a king for the role. That English a does not require a separate Hebrew word in this line.
הוּא מֶלֶךְ
5. Read the practice line and give natural English. Identify subject and description. How does their order compare with the Genesis excerpt?
hu ME-lech: “He is a king.” Hu is the subject; melech states his role, the predicate.
This constructed statement puts the subject first. The Genesis excerpt puts its role first. Both require you to identify the words’ jobs, not just their positions.
Melech keeps its two syllables and first-syllable stress. Its final sheva adds no vowel, as you learned for this particular word. This practice line is not another source quotation.
Repair the meaning and the sound
6. Repair these claims: “In the Genesis excerpt, hu is the word for is”; “a final alef always adds a.” Then read the excerpt again.
- Here hu is the subject pronoun he. English uses is to express the statement naturally.
- Final alef adds no separate sound in hu and navi. These examples do not establish a rule for every alef or every spelling.
Read נָבִיא הוּא, na-VI hu, again. Give each word its proper reading, then follow he to Avraham in the scene.
Next session: recover the clause
Next time, keep the models and answers closed. Use this cue: Genesis 20:7, “He is a prophet.” Recall the two Hebrew words in their source order, read them, and name whom he refers to.
Write the points if you can. Otherwise, recall the words first, then compare the revealed model and reread. Explain the new u spelling and the final alef.
7. Check the recalled clause, reading and reference
נָבִיא הוּא, na-VI hu, “He is a prophet.” Hu points to Avraham. The role/predicate comes before the subject.
Shuruk supplies u in hu. Final alef adds no separate sound in either word. Navi also uses hiriq-yod for i.
You have recalled a selected clause, not the complete verse. Returning Sarah and the surrounding words about prayer belong to its larger scene.
If you try the task now, leave yourself another closed-model attempt next session. Notice whether the part needing review was a spelling, a word’s meaning or the pronoun’s reference.
Explore the sources
Genesis 20 with surrounding English · Vowel spellings, University of Texas at Austin (PDF) · Navi: form and meaning · Personal pronouns, Gesenius’s Hebrew Grammar §32
In verse 7, locate the two words you have learned. Use the translation for the surrounding scene; the full passage contains forms beyond this lesson.
From a person to an idea
Next, follow the feminine pronoun she in a description of wisdom. You will reuse silent final alef and learn how two familiar-looking nouns form one linked description.