# Chapter 32 — Piel–Pual Contrast Drill

BBH Chapter 32 · Pual Strong Verbs

The Pual is the passive of the Piel. The defining Pual diagnostic: Qibbuts (ֻ) under R1 + Dagesh Forte in R2.

Part A: Active/passive pairs — identify stem, parse, translate.
Part B: Mixed Piel / Pual / Hiphil / Hophal — identify stem, then parse fully.

Stem | R1 vowel (perfect 3ms) | R2 | Function
--- | --- | --- | ---
Piel | Hiriq (קִ) or patach (קַ) | Dagesh Forte | Active
Pual | Qibbuts (קֻ) | Dagesh Forte | Passive of Piel
Hiphil | Hiriq under הִ | No extra dagesh | Active causative
Hophal | Qibbuts/qamets-hateph under הֻ/הָ | No extra dagesh | Passive of Hiphil

Key: Pual and Hophal can both show qibbuts under their first visible consonant. The tell: in the Pual there is always a dagesh forte in R2 (the Piel stem marker); in the Hophal there is no such dagesh in R2.

## Part A — Active/Passive Pairs

Pair 1 — בָּרַךְ (to bless)

# | Form | Reference | Stem | Conjugation | PGN | Translation |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
1 | תְּבָרֵךְ | Num 22:6 |  |  |  |  |
Piel · Imperfect · 2ms · "you bless" — tsere as Piel stem vowel; ר rejects dagesh → compensatory lengthening to tsere; active; context: Balak to Balaam "whom you bless is blessed"
2 | מְבֹרָךְ | Num 22:6 |  |  |  |  |
Pual · Participle · ms · "is blessed" — Pual passive participle; qibbuts expected under ב (R1) but ר (R2) rejects dagesh forte → vowel compensatorily lengthened to qamets (ָ) under ר

Pair 2 — קָדַשׁ (to be holy)

# | Form | Reference | Stem | Conjugation | PGN | Translation |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
3 | וְקִדַּשְׁתָּ | Exo 29:36 |  |  |  |  |
Piel · Weqatal · 2ms · "and you shall consecrate" — hiriq under ק + dagesh forte in ד; Piel active weqatal with ו conjunction
4 | יְקֻדַּשׁ | Exo 29:37 |  |  |  |  |
Pual · Imperfect · 3ms · "it will be consecrated" — qibbuts under ק + dagesh forte in ד — the classic Pual signature; passive of Piel

Pair 3 — כָּסָה (to cover)

# | Form | Reference | Stem | Conjugation | PGN | Translation |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
5 | יְכַסֶּה | Exo 10:5 |  |  |  |  |
Piel · Imperfect · 3ms · "he will cover" — patach under כ + dagesh forte in ס; III-he Piel imperfect: seghol + ה ending; active
6 | יְכֻסּוּ | Gen 7:19 |  |  |  |  |
Pual · Imperfect · 3mp · "they were covered" — qibbuts under כ + dagesh forte in ס; III-he Pual 3mp: shureq ending; passive (the mountains were covered)

Pair 4 — שָׁנַן (to sharpen / teach diligently)

# | Form | Reference | Stem | Conjugation | PGN | Translation |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
7 | שִׁנַּנְתָּם | Deu 6:7 |  |  |  |  |
Piel · Perfect · 2ms + 3mp suffix · "you shall teach them diligently" — hiriq under שׁ + dagesh forte in נ; Piel active perfect + pronominal suffix; the great Shema command
8 | שֻׁנָּן | (expected) |  |  |  |  |
Pual · Perfect · 3ms · "it has been sharpened/taught" — qibbuts under שׁ + dagesh forte in נ; Pual passive of Piel שִׁנֵּן; expected passive of Deu 6:7 command

Pair 5 — יָלַד (to give birth / beget)

# | Form | Reference | Stem | Conjugation | PGN | Translation |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
9 | יּוֹלֶד | Gen 5:3 |  |  |  |  |
Hiphil · Wayyiqtol · 3ms · "and he fathered/begat" — I-yod root: הוֹ prefix contracts with wayyiqtol prefix; holem-vav visible; active causative; used throughout Genesis genealogies
10 | יֻלַּד | Gen 4:18 |  |  |  |  |
Pual · Perfect · 3ms · "was born/begotten" — qibbuts under י + dagesh forte in ל; Pual passive; used in genealogies alongside the Hiphil active counterpart

## Part B — Identification Drill

Identify the stem first (Piel / Pual / Hiphil / Hophal), then parse fully.

# | Form | Reference | Stem | Conjugation | PGN | Root |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
11 | מְבֹרָךְ | Num 22:6 |  |  |  |  |
Pual · Participle · ms · בָּרַךְ — is/was blessed; Pual passive participle; ר rejects dagesh → qamets compensatorily under ר
12 | תְּבָרֵךְ | Num 22:6 |  |  |  |  |
Piel · Imperfect · 2ms · בָּרַךְ — you bless; tsere stem vowel; ר rejects dagesh; active; contrast with Pual מְבֹרָךְ just above it in the text
13 | יֻלַּד | Gen 4:18 |  |  |  |  |
Pual · Perfect · 3ms · יָלַד — was born; qibbuts under י + dagesh forte in ל; Pual passive of causative "beget"
14 | יְכֻלּוּ | Gen 2:1 |  |  |  |  |
Pual · Wayyiqtol · 3mp · כָּלָה — were finished/completed; qibbuts under כ + dagesh forte in ל; III-he Pual 3mp (shureq ending); "the heavens and earth were completed"
15 | יְכַסֶּה | Exo 10:5 |  |  |  |  |
Piel · Imperfect · 3ms · כָּסָה — he will cover; patach under כ + dagesh forte in ס; III-he seghol + ה ending; active
16 | יְכֻסּוּ | Gen 7:19 |  |  |  |  |
Pual · Imperfect · 3mp · כָּסָה — they were covered; qibbuts under כ; Pual passive; shureq 3mp; the flood narrative: all mountains were covered
17 | יְבָרֵךְ | Gen 1:22 |  |  |  |  |
Piel · Wayyiqtol · 3ms · בָּרַךְ — and he blessed; patach under prefix; tsere stem vowel (ר rejects dagesh → lengthened); active; God's first blessing in creation
18 | יֻּגַּד | Gen 22:20 |  |  |  |  |
Hophal · Imperfect · 3ms · נָגַד — it was told; qibbuts under יּ (Hophal imperfect prefix); dagesh forte in ג is from I-nun assimilation (not Piel dagesh); Hophal: no separate Piel active implied; "and it was told to Abraham..."
19 | וַיְקַדֵּשׁ | Exo 19:14 |  |  |  |  |
Piel · Wayyiqtol · 3ms · קָדַשׁ — and he consecrated; patach under ק + dagesh forte in ד; Piel active; Moses consecrated the people at Sinai
20 | יְקֻדַּשׁ | Exo 29:37 |  |  |  |  |
Pual · Imperfect · 3ms · קָדַשׁ — it will be consecrated; qibbuts under ק + dagesh forte in ד — the Pual textbook example; everything touching the altar will be consecrated
21 | שִׁנַּנְתָּם | Deu 6:7 |  |  |  |  |
Piel · Perfect · 2ms + 3mp obj. suffix · שָׁנַן — you shall teach them diligently; hiriq under שׁ + dagesh forte in נ; Piel active; pronominal suffix refers to "these words"
22 | קֻדַּשׁ | Exo 29:21 |  |  |  |  |
Pual · Perfect · 3ms · קָדַשׁ — it was consecrated; qibbuts under ק + dagesh forte in ד; Pual passive perfect 3ms
23 | הוּקַם | Exo 40:17 |  |  |  |  |
Hophal · Perfect · 3ms · קוּם — it was set up; הוּ Hophal prefix (holem-vav under ה); biconsonantal root קוּם; NOT Pual — no dagesh forte in R2; "the tabernacle was erected"
24 | הִקְדִּישׁ | Lev 27:14 |  |  |  |  |
Hiphil · Perfect · 3ms · קָדַשׁ — he dedicated/consecrated; הִ Hiphil prefix + hiriq-yod medial; active causative; a man "who dedicates his house to the LORD"
25 | כֻּסָּה | Exo 15:5 |  |  |  |  |
Pual · Perfect · 3ms · כָּסָה — it was covered; qibbuts under כ + dagesh forte in ס; III-he Pual perfect 3ms (qamets + ה ending); Song of the Sea: "the deep covered them"

## Discussion Questions

1. What is the one feature that distinguishes a Pual perfect 3ms from a Piel perfect 3ms when you look at R1? List the expected vowel under R1 for each stem and explain what that difference signals.
2. Item 11 (מְבֹרָךְ): the expected Pual marker is qibbuts (ֻ) under R1, but this form has qamets (ָ) under ר. Why? What phonological rule governs this substitution, and which other letters share this behavior?
3. Compare items 18 (יֻּגַּד, Hophal imperfect) and 13 (יֻלַּד, Pual perfect). Both have qibbuts under the first visible consonant. State two structural features that reliably distinguish a Hophal from a Pual when the forms look similar.
4. Item 10 (יֻלַּד, "was born/begotten") appears dozens of times in the genealogies of Genesis. The Niphal of the same root (נוֹלַד) also means "was born." Is there a semantic distinction between Pual יֻלַּד and Niphal נוֹלַד in the OT genealogies? What does the Pual's connection to the Hiphil/Piel causative system suggest about how the text presents lineage?