Person First¶
Summary¶
The first person form of a term refers to the person(s) writing or speaking.
Article¶
In English, the first person pronouns include: “I”, “me”, or “my”, for singular; and “we”, “us”, or “our,” for plural. In Biblical Hebrew, terms which are marked for first person do not change form according to gender (masculine and feminine), but they do change form according to number (singular or plural). In Biblical Hebrew, verbs, pronouns, and pronominal suffixes can all be marked for first person.
Form¶
In Biblical Hebrew, a term marked for first person can be recognized by a variety of changes to the form. These changes differ greatly from each other, so it is difficult to sum them up in a simple, helpful way. The paradigm below shows a sample of the kinds of changes that signal a first person form.
Paradigm¶
Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
first person common singular | קָטַלְתִּי | qatalti | I killed |
first person common plural | קָטַלְנוּ | qatalnu | we killed |
first person common singular | אֶקְטֹל | ‘eqtol | I will kill |
first person common plural | נִקְטֹל | niqtol | we will kill |
Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
first person common singular | אֲנִי / אָנֹכִי | ‘ani / ‘anokhi | I |
first person common plural | אֲנַחְנוּ | ‘anahnu | we |
Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
first person common singular | אֹתִי | ‘othi | me |
first person common plural | אֹתָנוּ | ‘othanu | us |
Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
first person common singular | לִי / - ִי | li / -i | (to) me |
first person common plural | לָנוּ / -נוּ | lanu / - nu | (to) us |
Neither English nor Biblical Hebrew distinguish between the inclusive and the exclusive “we”. The context will determine which one is meant. See also translationAcademy and translationNotes for help if the context is not clear.
Examples¶
Finite verb marked for first person¶
A finite verb (and/or verbal participle) in first person form indicates that the subject of the verb is the writer/speaker of the verb.
עַ֚ד אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִם־עָשִׂ֔יתִי אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־דִּבַּ֖רְתִּי לָֽךְ |
‘ad ‘asher ‘im-‘asithi ‘eth ‘asher-dibbarti lakh |
|
I will do all that I have promised to you. |
Personal pronoun marked for first person¶
A first person independent personal pronoun refers either to the writer/speaker (for singular) or to an entire group to which the writer/speaker belongs (for plural).
אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה |
‘ani yehwah |
I Yahweh. |
I am Yahweh. |
Pronominal suffix marked for first person¶
A first person pronominal suffix usually functions either as a personal pronoun (for verbs and prepositions) or as a possessive adjective (for nouns).
As attached to a verb¶
וַעֲבַדְתֶּ֖ם אֹתָֽנוּ׃ |
wa’avadtem ‘othanu |
and-you-will-serve [dir.obj]-us. |
then you will serve us. |
As attached to a noun¶
בְּנִ֤י אַבְשָׁלֹום֙ בְּנִ֣י בְנִ֣י |
beni ‘avshalowm beni veni |
My-son Absalom my-son my-son. |
My son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son! |
As attached to a preposition¶
וְאֶ֥פֶס כָּמֹֽונִי׃ |
we’efes kamowni |
and-none like-me. |
and there is no one like me. |
כִּי־לִ֖י כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ |
ki-li kol-ha’arets |
for_to-me all_the-earth. |
for all the earth is mine. |