Interactive Learning Module

The Definite Article

• This is the third module relating to Biblical Hebrew nouns.
• The first module focused on issues relating to the gender and number of nouns, while the second module discussed rules of pluralization
• In this module we will learn about definite and indefinite nouns, the definite article ("ה' הידיעה", equivalent to the English word "the"), and the direct object marker (את).
• We will attempt to answer the following questions:
• What does it mean for a noun to be definite or indefinite?
• When one adds the definite article "ה" to a word, why does it sometimes take a patach as in "הַסֵּפֶר", sometimes a kamatz as in "הָאִישׁ" and sometimes a segol, as in "הֶחָכָם"?
• The direct object marker "את" is one of the most prevalent words in Tanakh. Sometimes it is vocalized as "אֶת" and sometimes as "אֵת". What accounts for the difference?

• Definite nouns – A definite noun is one which refers to a specified or previously identified person, place, or object. In English such nouns are marked by the definite article "the".See Rashi on Bereshit 24:27 who defines such a noun as "דבר הפשוט שנזכר כבר במקום אחר, או שהוא מבורר וניכר באיזו הוא מדבר".
• Indefinite nouns – An indefinite noun is one which refers to a general or unidentified person, place, or object. In English such nouns are marked by the articles "a" or "an".
• Biblical Hebrew articles – In Biblical Hebrew there is no indefinite article marker at all; it is simply implied. Definite nouns, though, are marked with an article, the "ה' הידיעה" (the basic form being a "ה" pointed with a patach and a dagesh chazak in the following letter, as in: "הַמַּיִם")
• Example: See Bereshit 2:8-10. In verse 8 Hashem plants "a garden", described as simply "גַּן" (not marked by an indefinite article). When referring back to this now known garden in the coming verses, the text employs the word "הַגָּן", with the definite article marker.
• Implied definiteness – Some nouns are inherently specific and thus do not need an additional definite article marker:
• Proper names – In Biblical Hebrew, as in English, proper names are definite by definition (and thus are not marked by the "ה' הידיעה").Thus, for example, one would not say "האברהם" (the Avraham) for that would be redundant.
• Some exceptions to this rule include the names of certain rivers, mountains and other geographic regions which, despite being proper names, nonetheless might take the definite article. For instance, one can say הַיַּרְדֵּן, הַגִּלְבֹּעַ and הַבָּשָׁן‎.In some of these cases, use of the definite article is understandable as the names of some geographic regions might have both a general and specific sense. For example, "נֶגֶב" can refer to any dry or southern place, but "הַנֶּגֶב" refers specifically to the dry region in Israel's south. However, place names like גִּלְבֹּעַ and לְבָנוֹן are only used as proper names and yet they still appear both with and without the definite article. [Compare, for example, the reference to Lebanon in both Yehoshua 9:1 and Yeshayahu 29:17.] In English, too, some named geographic regions such as "the Himalayas", "the Sahara", "the Nile" and even some countries such as "the Netherlands" take the definite article despite being proper names. For further discussion, see here.
• Possessives – Similarly, nouns which indicate possession (e.g. "סִפְרִי", my book) also imply definiteness and do not take an additional definite article marker.While English indicates possession by the use of possessive pronouns ("my", "his", "her"), Biblical Hebrew generally does so by the addition of pronomial suffixes (suffixes which relate to pronouns, e.g. ספרי, ספרך, ספרו). Such words are definite as they mean: "the book belonging to me/you/him"). Modern Hebrew usually uses the word "של" for this purpose, but this formulation, likely short for "אשר ל", meaning: "that which belongs to", does not intrinsically imply definiteness and would necessitate a definite article marker. Thus, the phrase "ספר שלי" means: "a book of mine" while "הספר שלי" means: "the book of mine" (i.e. "my book"). In Biblical Hebrew, the word "של" functions in the same way, but appears only five times (see here), with the equivalent "אשר ל", being much more common.

• As mentioned, the basic form of the definite article has three components:
• 1) the prefix "ה"
• 2) a patach under the "ה"
• 3) a dagesh chazak in the first letter of the noun (marking the virtual doubling of that letter)
• It is not clear why adding the definite article necessitates a doubling of the next letter.
• It has been hypothesized that perhaps the definite article prefix was originally הַלְ־ או הַנְ־, similar to the Arabic "al-", but was then contracted to "ה", with the dagesh being added to mark the missing letter.
• Others suggest that the doubling is for pronunciation purposes, to ensure that the initial vowel is not reduced.
• There are several exceptions where one or more of the three components of the definite article mentioned above is lost or changed. These exceptions will be explored in the coming slides.

• When one attaches the definite article to nouns beginning with the guttural letters האחר"ע, it takes a unique form. [Click here for a summary table.]
• These letters do not take a dagesh chazak so it is lost.
• To compensate, there is often lengthening of the previous vowel,This is known as a "תשלום דגש" or compensatory lengthening. as follows:
• Nouns beginning with "א" and "ר"
• There is compensatory lengthening and the patach under the "ה' הידיעה" turns into a kamatz.
• Examples: a) אוֹר becomes הָאוֹר (Bereshit 1:3-4) b) רֹאשׁ becomes הָרֹאשׁ (Bereshit 8:18,20)
• Nouns beginning with "ע"
• There is usually compensatory lengthening and the patach under the "ה' הידיעה" turns into a kamatz.
• However, if there is an unaccented long kamatz under the "ע", the "ה' הידיעה" will take a segol.This might be related to a general tendency for a patach found in an open syllable and followed by a kamatz to change into a segol. For example, in Hebrew the feminine number one is "אַחַת". When in pausal form (at the end of a verse), the patach under the "ח" lengthens to a kamatz, leading the initial patach to become a segol, "אֶחָת" (see Shemot 36:10).
• Examples: a) עִיר becomes הָעִיר (Bereshit 4:17) but עָרִים becomes הֶעָרִים (Bemidbar 35:11-12). b) עַמּוּד becomes הָעַמּוּד (Melakhim I 7:15) but עָפָר becomes הֶעָפָר (Melakhim I 16:2).
• Nouns beginning with "ח" and "ה"
• There is generally no compensatory lengthening and the patach under the "ה' הידיעה" remains.
• However, if there is an unaccented long kamatz under the "ה", or an accented or unaccented long kamatz or chataf kamatz under the "ח", then the "ה' הידיעה" will take a segol.
• Examples: a) חַלּוֹן becomes הַחַלּוֹן (Bereshit 26:8) but חָכָם becomes הֶחָכָם‎Note: the word "חׇכְמָה" becomes "הַחׇכְמָה" (with a patach rather than a segol under the article) because the kamatz under the "ח" is a short kamatz. (Yirmeyahu 9:11). b) הֵיכָל becomes הַהֵיכָל (Melakhim I 6:17) but הָרִים becomes הֶהָרִים (Bereshit 7:19).

• Definite article before "מ" and "י"
• Words beginning with "יְ" (yud vocalized with a sheva) lose the dagesh when following the definite article, but without any compensatory lengthening of the previous vowel.
• Example: יֶלֶד becomes הַיֶּלֶד (Bereshit 21:8) but יְלָדִים becomes הַיְלָדִים (Bereshit 33:1).
• Words beginning with "מְ" (mem vocalized with a sheva) similarly lose their dagesh, but only when such words are participlesA participle is a word formed from a verb but used as an adjective (e.g. "working" woman) or a noun (e.g. brisk "walking") in the pi'el or pu'al conjugations.
• Example: Both הַמְרַגְּלִים and הַמְדַבְּרִים lose the dagesh but הַמְּלָכִים and הַמְּאֹרֹת maintain it.
• Monosyllabic Nouns
• Sometimes the addition of the definite article affects the vocalization of the original noun.
• For example, when the definite article is added to certain monosyllabic words, the original nouns take on a quasi-pausal form causing lengthening of the initial vowel of the base noun from a patach to a kamatz.
• Example: a) גַּן becomes הַגָּן (Bereshit 2:9) b) פַּר becomes הַפָּר (Shemot 29:3) c) עַם becomes הָעָם (Bereshit 14:16)As discussed in the previous slide, here the definite article takes a kamatz as compensation for the missing dagesh. It does not become a segol even though the noun now opens with a kamatz, since the kamatz is accented. d) חַג becomes הֶחָג (Yechezkel 45:23).This, too, follows the rules mentioned earlier. Once the patach of the "ח" was elongated to a kamatz, the definite article changed into a segol (in the case of "ח" even when the letter is accented, the previous patach changes to a segol).
• Exceptional example: The word "הַר" becomes "הָהָר" (Shemot 3:12).Based on the rules discussed in the previous slide, one would have expected "הַהָר" (with a patach under the definite article), as nouns beginning with "ה" do not cause compensatory lengthening of the previous vowel. [In contrast to the previous example, in this case, we would not have expected the definite article to take a segol, even though the word is pointed with a kamatz, since the syllable is accented.]
• Similar exceptions
• Two other nouns whose vocalization changes as a result of the addition of the definite article include the following: a) אֶרֶץ becomes הָאָרֶץ (Bereshit 1:1) b) אֲרוֹן becomes הָאָרוֹן (Yehoshua 3:14).
• Two other words which do not get a dagesh when prefixed with the definite article include the following: a) לְוִיִּם becomes הַלְוִיִּם (Shemot 6:25) b) צְפַרְדְּעִים becomes הַצְפַרְדְּעִים (Shemot 7:29). [Neither word gets compensatory lengthening of the vowel under the "ה' הידיעה".]
• It is not clear why these words behave as they do, while other words which follow the same general patterns do not.

• Make the following words definite by adding the proper form of the definite article and changing any necessary vocalization. Check yourself by finding the word with the definite article in the linked verses.
• Click here for a review chart summarizing the various forms.
• מַחֲנֶה (Bereshit 32:9)
• יָם (Bereshit 32:13)
• מְהַלֵּךְ (Tehillim 104:3)
• מְאֵרָה (Devarim 28:20)
• חֲסָדִים (Bereshit 32:11)
• חָגָב (Vayikra 11:22)
• אֶמֶת (Bereshit 32:11)
• רִאשׁוֹן (Bereshit 32:18)
• עֲדָרִים (Bereshit 32:20)
• עָוֺן (Yeshayahu 22:14)
• עַם (Bereshit 33:15)
• יְאֹר (Shemot 2:3)
• הֲדַסִּים (Zekharyah 1:8)

• The three prepositions ב,כ,ל (in, as/like, to) are unique in that they are always prefixed to the following word and cannot stand alone. [They will be discussed at length in the module that focuses on prepositions; we will confine our discussion here to how they behave when attached to a definite noun.]
• When combined with a noun with a definite article, the "ה" is dropped and the prefixes take the same vowel that the "ה" would have. Thus, for example:
  • The house = הַבָּיִת, "in the house" = בַּבַּיִת, "like the house" = כַבַּיִת, "to the house" = לַבַּיִת
  • The land = הָאָרֶץ, "in the land" = בָּאָרֶץ, "like the land" = כָאָרֶץ, and "to the land" = לָאָרֶץ
• Exercise – Write the following words in Hebrew: a) in the city (עיר) b) like the locust (אַרְבֶּה) c) to the mountains (הָרִים). Check yourself by finding the words in Bereshit 19:12, Shofetim 7:12, and Yechezkel 6:3.

• In English, one differentiates between the object and subject of a verb by their placement in the sentence. For example, in the sentence, "The boy ate an apple", the first noun is the subject and the second is the direct object of the verb "ate".
In Biblical Hebrew, in contrast, when the direct object of a verb is a definite noun (including proper names and possessives), it will usually be preceded by the definite object marker "אֵת" or "אֶת"As there is no equivalent in English, the word is left untranslated. as in:.
• וַיִּכְתֹּב מֹשֶׁה אֵת כׇּל דִּבְרֵי י"י - Moshe wrote all the words of Hashem.
• וַיְשַׁלְּחוּ אֶת־רִבְקָה - They sent Rivka.
• If the object of the verb is indefinite, it will not be marked at all.
• וַיִּכְתֹּב דָּוִד סֵפֶר - David wrote a book.
• As seen above, the direct object marker can take one of two forms. It is vocalized with a tzere when standing alone, but with a segol when attached to the following word with a makkaf (a hyphen).
• Compare the phrase "אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ" in Bereshit 1:1 with the same phrase in Shemot 20:10 "אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם וְאֶת־הָאָ֗רֶץ".
• Explanation
• As we learned in the module on vowels, when two words are combined with a makkaf, they are treated as one word. The word before the hyphen loses its stress, so that only the second word is accented.
• This shift in stress affects vocalization since letters in closed unstressed syllables prefer to take short vowels. Thus, when the word "אֵת" is joined to another word, losing its accent, it finds itself in a closed unstressed syllable, causing the long tzere to reduce to a short segol.