Person Second¶
Summary¶
The second person form of a term refers to the person(s) being addressed by a writer or speaker.
Article¶
In English, the second person pronouns are “you” and “your,” used for both singular and plural. In Biblical Hebrew, terms which are marked for second personal can change form according to both gender (masculine and feminine) and number (singular or plural). In Biblical Hebrew, verbs, pronouns, and pronominal suffixes can all be marked for second person.
Neither English nor Hebrew have a formal second person address. In many languages (including German, Spanish, and French), a speaker addresses God using an informal address. In some other languages, such as Dutch, a speaker addresses God using a formal address. For more information, see translationAcademy and translationNotes.
Form¶
In Biblical Hebrew, a term marked for second 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 second person form.
Paradigm¶
| Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
| second person masculine singular | קָטַלְתָּ | qatalta | you killed |
| second person feminine singular | קָטַלְתְּ | qatalt | you killed |
| second person masculine plural | קְטַלְתֶּם | qetaltem | you killed |
| second person feminine plural | קְטַלְתֶּן | qetalten | you killed |
| Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
| second person masculine singular | תִּקְטֹל | tiqtol | you will kill |
| second person feminine singular | תִּקְטְלִי | tiqteli | you will kill |
| second person masculine plural | תִּקְטְלוּ | tiqtelu | you will kill |
| second person feminine plural | תִּקְטֹלְנָה | tiqtolenah | you will kill |
| Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
| second person masculine singular | אַתָּה | ‘attah | you |
| second person feminine singular | אַתְּ | ‘at | you |
| second person masculine plural | אַתֶּם | ‘attem | you |
| second person feminine plural | אַתֵּנָה | ‘attenah | you |
| Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
| second person masculine singular | אֹתְךָ | ‘othekha | you |
| second person feminine singular | אֹתָךְ | ‘othakh | you |
| second person masculine plural | אֹתְכֶֶם | ‘othekhem | you |
| second person feminine plural | אֹתְכֶֶן | ‘othekhen | you |
| Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
| second person masculine singular | לְךָ / - ְךָ | lekha / -ekha | (to) you |
| second person feminine singular | לָךְ / - ָךְ | lakh / -akh | (to) you |
| second person masculine plural | לָכֶם / -כֶם | lakhem / -khem | (to) you |
| second person feminine plural | לָכֶן / -כֶן | lakhen / -khen | (to) you |
Examples¶
Finite verb marked for second person¶
A finite verb (and/or verbal participle) in second person form indicates that the subject of the verb is the person(s) being addressed by the writer/speaker.
| עֵ֕קֶב אֲשֶׁ֥ר שָׁמַ֖עְתָּ בְּקֹלִֽי |
| because that you-have-obeyed on-voice-of-me. |
| because you listened to my voice. |
Personal pronoun marked for second person¶
A second person independent personal pronoun refers either to the person being addressed by the writer/speaker (for singular) or to an entire group to which that person belongs (for plural).
| צַדִּ֤יק אַתָּה֙ |
| tsaddiq ‘attah |
| righteous you |
| you are righteous |
Pronominal suffix marked for second person¶
A second 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¶
| וְאִֽם־תִּדְרְשֻׁ֨הוּ֙ יִמָּצֵ֣א לָכֶ֔ם |
| we’im-tidreshuhu yimmatse lakhem |
| And-if_you-seek-him he-will-be-found by-you |
| If you seek him, he will be found by you |
As attached to a noun¶
| וּבְיָדְךָ֖ כֹּ֣חַ וּגְבוּרָ֑ה |
| uveyodkha koah ugevurah |
| and-in-your-hand power and-strength. |
| In your hand is power and might. |
As attached to a preposition¶
| שְׁנַ֧יִם מִכֹּ֛ל יָבֹ֥אוּ אֵלֶ֖יךָ |
| shenayim mikkol yavo’u ‘eleykha |
| two of-all will-come to-you |
| two of every sort will come to you |
| לְךָ֣ יֹ֭ום אַף־לְךָ֥ לָ֑יְלָה |
| lekha yowm ‘af-lekha laylah |
| To-you day also_to-you night |
| The day is yours, and the night is yours also |