Pronoun Personal¶
Summary¶
A personal pronoun
is a word that indirectly refers to a particular person(s) or thing(s). In English, the
following words are personal pronouns: “I”, “we”, “you”, “he”, “she”, “they”, “them”.
Article¶
In Biblical Hebrew, personal pronouns change form according to gender (masculine, feminine, or common), number (singular, or plural), and person (first, second, or third). Grammatically they are very similar to pronominal suffixes, but they stand alone rather than attaching to other kinds of words; also, they are more limited in their function.
Form¶
Paradigm¶
Parsing |
Hebrew |
Transliteration |
Gloss |
---|---|---|---|
common singular first person |
אֲנִי / אָנֹכִי |
‘ani / ‘anokhi |
I |
masculine singular second person |
אַתָּה |
‘attah |
you |
feminine singular second person |
אַתְּ |
‘at |
you |
masculine singular third person |
הוּא |
hu |
he / it |
feminine singular third person |
הִיא / הִוא |
hi / hiw |
she / it |
common plural first person |
אֲנַחְנוּ |
‘anahnu |
we |
masculine plural second person |
אַתֶּם |
‘attem |
you |
feminine plural second person |
אַתֵּנָה |
‘attenah |
you |
masculine plural third person |
הֵם / הֵמָּה |
hem / hemmah |
they |
feminine plural third person |
הֵן / הֵנָּה |
hen / hennah |
they |
Function¶
As a general noun¶
|
‘al-tira’ ki ‘immekha-‘ani ‘al-tishta’ ki-‘ani ‘eloheykha |
Not_fear for with-you_I not_be-anxious for_I your-God |
|
אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה |
‘ani yehwah |
I Yahweh |
I am Yahweh. |
צַדִּ֤יק אַתָּה֙ |
tsaddiq ‘attah |
righteous you |
you are righteous |
As subject of a finite verb¶
Sometimes an independent personal pronoun appears as the subject of a finite verb even though the pronominal subject is already indicated by the verb form iteself. In these cases, the personal pronoun functions to emphasize the personal role of the subject in performing the verbal action. When used in this way, the personal pronoun is often translated reflexively in English: “myself”, “yourself”, etc.
אֲנִ֞י נֹותַ֧רְתִּי נָבִ֛יא לַיהוָ֖ה |
‘ani nowtharti navi layhwah |
I I-am-left prophet for-Yahweh |
I, I alone, am left as a prophet of Yahweh |
As subject of a verbal participle¶
אָנֹכִ֧י מְצַוְּךָ֛ |
‘anokhi metsawwekha |
I am-commanding-you |
I am giving you |
In apposition with a noun or pronominal suffix¶
Sometimes a personal pronoun simply repeats a noun or pronominal suffix that has appeared earlier in the sentence. The specific function of the repeated pronoun must be discerned from the context in these cases, but often the repetition expresses some kind of emphasis on the identified person(s) or thing(s) within the sentence.
בָּרֲכֵ֥נִי גַם־אָ֖נִי אָבִֽי |
barakheni gam-‘ani ‘avi |
Bless-me also_me my-father |
Bless me, me also, my father |
ה֤וּא עֶזְרָא֙ עָלָ֣ה מִבָּבֶ֔ל |
hu ‘ezra’ ‘alah mibbavel |
He Ezra came-up from-Babylon |
Ezra came up from Babylon |
עֵשָׂ֖ו ה֥וּא אֱדֽוֹם |
‘esaw hu ‘edom |
Esau he Edom |
Esau (also called Edom) |