A brief introduction to the הִתְפַּעֵל stem in Biblical Hebrew.

1. Biblical Hebrew
Getting to Know ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬Verbs
by Chris Heard

2. Table of Contents
Abbreviations .............................. 3
Getting Ready .............................. 4
Using ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬Verbs .................... 9
The Basic Patterns .................... 13
Recognizing ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬Verbs ...... 15
Special Topic: The ‫13 .... הִשְׁתַּפְעֵל‬
Credits ........................................ 37

3. Abbreviations
1, 2, 3 indicate grammatical person
m, f, c indicate grammatical gender
s, p indicate grammatical number
R1, R2, R3 indicate root letters
3

4. Getting Ready
Before we start getting to
know the ‫ ,הִת&פַּעֵל בִּנ1י/ן‬let’s
run a few preflight checks.
4

5. Do you remember how a Hebrew
verb changes to form the various
combinations of person, gender,
and number, as well as perfect
and imperfect?
5

6. If you answered
“yes,” you’re ready
for the ‫!הִת&פַּעֵל בִּנ1י/ן‬
6

7. Remember that certain patterns
can create predictable variations.
This slideshow focuses on core
patterns. It does not illustrate every
possible variation.
7

8. Furthermore, this slideshow
is intended to supplement,
not replace, classroom
instruction and practice.
8

9. Using ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬Verbs
The ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬is a relatively
uncommon ‫ .בִּנ1י/ן‬The 5‫תַּנ7״‬
contains some 835 instances
of verbs in ‫.הִת&פַּעֵל‬
9

10. Verbs in ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬are often
intransitive. The ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬is
sometimes described as a
reflexive ‫ ,בִּנ1י/ן‬but that’s an
overgeneralization.
10

11. It’s best just to memorize the
sense of each ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬verb you
learn, rather than trying to
figure it out from the sense
of the verb in another ‫.בִּנ1י/ן‬
11

12. For example, ‫ הלך‬can appear in
both ‫ 9ל‬and ‫ ,הִת&פַּעֵל‬meaning
“to walk” in both ‫ .בִּנ1י/נ;ים‬You
can’t figure out the sense of
the ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬from the ‫ 9ל‬in this
(and many other) cases.
12

13. The Basic Patterns
Memorize the following basic
patterns first, and then we’ll
go through the specifics.
13

14. ‫הִת&פַּלֵּל‬ He prayed (3ms perfect)
‫י;ת&פַּלֵּל‬ He will pray (3ms imperfect)
‫הִת&פַּלֵּל‬ Pray! (ms imperative)
‫הִת&פַּלֵּל‬ To pray (infinitive)
‫מִת&פַּלֵּל‬ Praying (ms participle)
14

15. Recognizing ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬Verbs
You can tell from the name
“‫ ”הִת&פַּלֵּל‬that the most
noticeable sign of this ‫בִּנ1י/ן‬
is a prefixed –&‫.הִת‬
15

16. That –&‫ הִת‬will be clearly visible
in all forms except the imperfect
and participle, where the first
consonant will differ. The ith
sound will remain, however.
16

17. The ‫ הִת&פַּלֵּל‬also
characteristically
has a ‫ דָּגֵשׁ‬in R2.
17

18. Alert! When a verb with ‫ ט‬or ‫ ת‬as
R1 is used in the ‫ ,הִת&פַּלֵּל‬the ‫ ת‬of
the –&‫ הִת‬undergoes aphaeresis (it
“melds” with the ‫ ט‬or ‫ ת‬in R1). As
a trace of the prefix’s ‫ ,ת‬a ‫דָּגֵשׁ‬
appears in R1.
18

19. Recognizing the ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬Perfect
If you see a –&‫ הִת‬prefix on a
verb, that’s a clear sign of
the ‫ .הִת&פַּלֵּל‬If it has a perfect
suffix, it’s a ‫ הִת&פַּלֵּל‬perfect.
19

20. Just make sure the prefix
is really –&‫ ,הִת‬and not –ִ‫ה‬
prefixed to a verb that has
‫ ת‬as R1.
20

21. ‫הִת&הַ ֶך‬
ּ‫ל‬
The suffix ְ‫ הִת& עַ לְתּ‬The prefixed
ַּ‫ל‬
indicates –&‫ הִת‬indicates
a perfect. ‫כוּ‬Dָ‫ הִת&בּ‬a ‫.הִת&פַּעֵל‬
‫הִת& שְׁתֶּם‬
ּ E9
21

22. Recognizing the ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬Imperfect
In the ‫ הִת&פַּלֵּל‬imperfect, the ‫ ה‬of
the – &‫ הִת‬prefix is replaced by the
usual consonant of the standard
imperfect prefixes (‫ י‬for 3ms and
3mp, ‫ א‬for 1cs, ‫ נ‬for 1cp, and ‫ ת‬for
the other variations). 22

23. ‫י;ת&פַּ ֵל‬
ּ‫ל‬
The affixes ‫תִּת&עַמֵר‬
ּ The prefixed
indicate an –&‫ –ת‬indicates
ִ
imperfect. ‫ תִּת&חַטְאוּ‬a ‫.הִת&פַּעֵל‬
ּ
‫אֶת&פָּאָר‬
23

24. Recognizing the ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬Imperative
The ‫ הִת&פַּלֵּל‬imperative looks just
like the corresponding ‫הִת&פַּלֵּל‬
imperfect, except that a ‫ ה‬replaces
the customary consonant of the
imperfect’s prefix.
24

25. Also, this means that the
ms ‫ הִת&פַּלֵּל‬imperative looks
exactly like the 3ms ‫הִת&פַּלֵּל‬
perfect. You’ll have to tell
the difference contextually.
25

26. Recognizing the ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬Infinitives
Both the ‫ הִת&פַּלֵּל‬infinitive* and
adverbial infinitive** look just
like the 3ms perfect and the ms
imperative. You’ll have to tell
the difference contextually.
* Or “infinitive construct.” ** Or “infinitive absolute.”
26

27. Recognizing the ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬Participle
The ms ‫ הִת&פַּלֵּל‬participle looks like the
3ms imperfect, but with a –‫ מ‬instead
of the imperfect prefix’s consonant.
‫הִת&פַּלּל‬
ֵ 3ms imperfect
‫מִת&פַּלּל‬
ֵ ms participle 27

28. The mp and fp participles take
the familiar plural endings ‫ ים‬
ִ–
and ‫. –וֹת‬
28

29. The fs participle is a little bit
different from the others. Its R2
has a ‫ סְגוֹל‬instead of ‫ק מָלֵא‬N‫,חִי‬
and it takes the suffix ‫. ת‬
ֶ–
‫הִת&פַּ ֵל‬
ּ‫ל‬ ms participle
‫מִת&פּ ת‬
ֶ‫ַלל‬
ֶּ fs participle
29

30. Summary
‫3 הִת&פַּ ֵל‬ms perfect
ּ‫ל‬
‫3 י;ת&פַּ ֵל‬ms imperfect
ּ‫ל‬ Look for the
‫ הִת&פַּ ֵל‬ms imperative
ּ‫ל‬ distinctive
‫ הִת& פַּ ֵל‬infinitive
ּ‫ל‬ prefix in all
‫ הִת&פַּ ֵל‬adv. infinitive
ּ‫ל‬ forms.
‫ מִת& פַּ ֵל‬ms participle
ּ‫ל‬ 30

31. Special Topic: The ‫הִשְׁתַּפְעֵל‬
There is an unusual verb that appears
170 times in the 5‫—תַּנ7״‬frequently
enough that you need to recognize it.
The 3ms perfect form of ‫ חוה‬appears
as ‫“ ,הִשְׁתַּחֲו/ה‬to bow down, worship.”
31

32. Other forms follow predictable
variations, with the usual suffixes in
the perfect and imperfect, and the
same prefix consonant pattern that
the ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬exhibits in the imperfect,
infinitive, and participle.
32

33. Grammarians used to derive ‫הִשְׁתַּחֲו/ה‬
and its variants from the root ‫,שׁחה‬
parsing them as ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬forms that
had undergone metathesis (the
prefix’s ‫ ת‬had switched places with
the ‫ שׁ‬in R1).
33

34. However, most grammarians now
derive ‫ הִשְׁתַּחֲו/ה‬and its variants
from a root ‫ ,חוה‬and consider them
examples of a special ‫ בִּנ1י/ן‬called the
‫ ,הִשְׁתַּפְעֵל‬used only by this root.
34

35. Since the ‫ הִשְׁתַּפְעֵל בִּנ1י/ן‬is used with
only one root, you don’t need to
learn any special patterns for it or
give it a lot of thought.
35

36. Just remember the word ‫,הִשְׁתַּחֲו/ה‬
and remember that although it may
look unusual, its suffixes are just like
those for any other verb with ‫ ה‬in
R3, and its initial consonant changes
just like those in ‫ הִת&פַּעֵל‬verbs.
36

37. Credits
Dead Sea photo by Wikimedia Commons contributor
Xta11. Used under a CC-SA license.
All other content by Dr. Chris Heard, Associate
Professor of Religion, Pepperdine University.
Released under a CC-BY license.
Grammatical terminology used in this presentation
follows J. Cook and R. Holmstedt, Beginning Biblical
Hebrew (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2013).