Biblical Hebrew 101 Learning to Read Biblical Hebrew Lesson 5 שׁעוּר ה Chatef Vowels All ages (from youngsters through seniors) have fun learning God s holy Word Continue learning Hebrew vowels 5.01 Introduce Chatef vowels 5.02 Fact: the Torah is the foundation of the Bible 5.03 Practice reading and writing the chatef vowels 5.04 More practice reading 5.05 Let s read Joshua 1:9 in Hebrew 5.06 Brief explanation of cantillation marks 23 P a g e
In this lesson, we will learn the chatef vowels: kamats. chatef א chatef segol; and א patach; - chatef א 5.01 Introduce the chatef vowels,(ח) chet,(ה) hay,(א) 1. Chatef vowels only appear under a guttural letter. The guttural letters are: aleph.(ר) and sometimes resh,(ע) ayin 2. Chatef vowels are a combination of a sheva ( ) plus a patach ( ), segol ( ), or a kamats ( ). 3. They have a much quicker sound than their corresponding single vowel. They are also called half or reduced vowels. Chatef Vowel Name of vowel ח ט ף פ ת ח chatef patach ח ט ף ס ג ול chatef segol ח ט ף ק מ ץ chatef kamats Sound of vowel ah as in spa; same sound as patach eh as in bed; same sound as segol o as in row Block vowel with aleph Write each chatef 5.02 FACT: the Torah is the foundation of the Bible Even though the Old Testament comes at the front of our Bibles and is the larger portion of the whole Bible, unfortunately many traditional, mainstream Christians only study the Old Testament for its historical information, Psalms & Proverbs, and as an aid to understand the Jews. To these Christians, the Scripture with greatest importance is the New Testament. Did you know that every book of the Bible has its foundation in the Torah. Let us consider: what Scripture did Yeshua Himself study? The Torah. What Scripture did Paul and the early believers study? The Torah. How do we know? Because the Apostolic Scriptures had not yet been written. If our goal is to live and walk as our Messiah did, don t we think we should do the things He did, including studying the Scriptures He studied? We are living in a very special time God chose for US to live at this time and is allowing us to help restore that which was lost in our understanding and study of Scripture. 24 P a g e
5.03 Practice reading and writing the Chatef vowels below Chatef Vowels ח,( ayin )ע (hay), ה (aleph), א Chatef vowels generally appear only under these consonants (chet) & sometimes ר (resh). They are pronounced quicker and shorter than the regular segol and tsere. Letter Name Sound Block Write letter & vowel א aleph silent א א aleph with chatef segol eh as in bed א א aleph with chatef patach ah as in spa א א aleph with chatef kamats over) o (long O; א ה hay silent ה ה hay with chatef segol heh as in hello ה ה hay with chatef patach ha! hah as in ה ה hay with chatef kamats hold) ho (long O; ה ע ayin silent ע ע ayin with chatef segol eh as in bed ע ע ayin with chatef patach ah as in spa ע ע ayin with chatef kamats over) o (long O; ע ח chet ch as in Bach ח ח chet with chatef segol cheh as in chet ח ח chet with chatef patach cha as is chatef ח ח chet with chatef kamats over) cho (long O; ח 25 P a g e
5.04 Now, we are going to practice putting these sounds together! Our objective is to become familiar with the letters and their sounds. not to memorize words. Always remember read: right to left and top to bottom. Hebrew Translation Read & Write words below Transliteration (please, try to read before looking at transliteration) א ה ב ה love (noun) ah-hah-vah א ד מ ה earth, ground ah-dah-mah ה א ד מ ה the earth (Genesis 12:3) ח ט א sinner chah-tah א שׁר who, which, where ah-shehr ח ט ף Chatef is ahalf or reduced vowel. (eg, the vowels we studied in this lesson) hah-ah-dah-mah chah-tehf י ע ש ה he will do, make (Numbers 9:14) yah-ah-seh א מ ת truth eh-meht* Tip ו א מ ץ & courage (& א מ ץ ו ח זק veh-eh-mahtz* courageous) Tip Be strong and of good courage Congratulations said to Torah service participants at the end of Torah service. (Deut 31:6, 7, 23; Josh 1:6, 7, 9, 18, 10:25; 2Sam 10:12; 1Chron 19:13, 22:13, 28:20; 2Chron 32:7) Practice writing each word (use block print) chah-zahk veh-eh-mahtz * Tip Normally when there are 2 segols in a 3-4 letter word, the accent moves to the first segol. However, when a word has a hatef segol and a segol, the accent does not move to the first; instead it remains on the last syllable. Examples: ץ & אמ ת :ו עמ each has a hatef segol (a half or reduced vowel) & a segol, so the accent remains on the final syllable. 26 P a g e
Patach Vav 5.05 Let s read Joshua 1:9 in Hebrew! Hebrew Words for Joshua 1:9 Translation Transliteration צ ו ית י ך I have commanded you tseev-vee-tee-chah ח זק be strong chah-zahk ו א מ ץ & courage (courageous) veh-eh-mahtz צ ו ית י ך ח ז ק ו א מ ץ I have commanded you to be strong & of good courage, Joshua 1:9a 5.06 Brief explanation of cantillation marks In the 600sAD, the Masorets added vowels and other markings to the Hebrew letters in order to ensure accurate pronunciation. Today, these markings are found in Biblical writings. The verse below includes these extra marks (aka cantillation marks, accents, tropes). Every word in the Masoretic text includes cantillation markings. These special marks are placed on accented syllables. These marks are placed either above or below the consonantal letters (the consonants). Explanation and example of cantillation marks: In the first word below, there are 2. (One is above the tav and the other is above the chaf sofit) In the 2 nd word, it looks like a backwards L and is below the zayin. And in the 3 rd word, above the mem is a mark that resembles a colon. צ ו ית י ך ח ז ק ו א מץ 201 Hebrew Verbs fully conjugated in all the forms A great tool to further your studies! Barron s Educational Series, Inc. *ISBN: 0-8120-0331-4. (Order used; ours was published in 1970! Sometimes it takes several weeks to arrive ) 27 P a g e