# BBH Chapter 10 — Hebrew Construct Chain

## Files

### Exercises

Exercise | Description
--- | ---
exercises/ch10-construct-chain/ | 25-item drill — identify construct noun, absolute noun, definiteness, and translation for each chain

### Flashcards

File | Format | Description
--- | --- | ---
ch10-vocab-deck.md | Markdown | Vocabulary deck — 17 high-frequency nouns with OT frequency
ch10-vocab-deck.txt | Anki import | Vocabulary deck — tab-separated, ready for Anki File → Import (17 cards)
ch10-vocab-deck-fd.txt | Flashcards Deluxe | Vocabulary deck — tab-separated, ready for Flashcards Deluxe import (17 cards)

### Notebooks

Notebook | What it shows
--- | ---
OT Noun Morphology | Top nouns in construct state, construct % by lemma, lemma × state crosstab across the OT
Collocation and Phrase Search | Phrase search: find construct chains and prepositional phrases in the OT corpus

Basics of Biblical Hebrew, Pratico & Van Pelt
Topic: Construct Chain (סְמִיכוּת, semikhut) — BBH §10

## 1. Introduction

The construct chain (סְמִיכוּת, semikhut) is Hebrew's primary grammatical strategy for expressing the relationship between two nouns. It is equivalent to English "of" constructions or noun-noun compounds: "word of God," "king of Israel," "house of the LORD."

Where English uses a preposition (of), a possessive apostrophe (king's house), or juxtaposition (life force), Hebrew instead changes the form of the first noun — placing it in the construct state — and follows it with the second noun in the absolute state. The construct state marks the first noun as "leaning on" the one that follows; the two nouns form a single grammatical and accentual unit.

The construct chain is one of the most frequent syntactic structures in the Hebrew Bible. Recognizing it — and reading it correctly — is foundational for reading prose, poetry, and legal texts alike.

## 2. The Structure of the Construct Chain

Every construct chain has two required elements:

Element | Hebrew term | Role | Example
--- | --- | --- | ---
Construct noun | נֹמֶן רֵגֶנס (nomen regens) | "governing noun" — the noun modified | דְּבַר
Absolute noun | נֹמֶן רֶקְטוּם (nomen rectum) | "governed noun" — the noun doing the defining | יְהוָה

The construct noun always comes first; the absolute noun always comes last (in a two-link chain).

### Definiteness Rule

The most important rule for the construct chain concerns the definite article (הַ):

> The definite article is NEVER placed on the construct noun.
> Definiteness is determined entirely by the absolute noun (the last noun in the chain).

Absolute Noun | Whole Chain | Example
--- | --- | ---
Indefinite (no article, not a proper noun) | Indefinite | דְּבַר מֶלֶךְ — "a word of a king"
Definite article (הַ) | Definite | דְּבַר הַמֶּלֶךְ — "the word of the king"
Proper noun | Definite | דְּבַר יְהוָה — "the word of the LORD"

Wrong: ~~הַדְּבַר יְהוָה~~ — the article never goes on the construct noun.
Right: דְּבַר יְהוָה — proper noun makes the whole chain definite.

## 3. Construct Forms: Masculine Nouns

The construct state often differs from the absolute in its vowels. The principal change is propretonic reduction: when a syllable is added (or the accent shifts), the long vowel two syllables before the accent reduces to a vocal shewa.

### Masculine Singular

Many masculine singular construct forms are identical to the absolute, but nouns with long vowels in the first syllable often reduce:

Absolute | Construct | Change | Gloss
--- | --- | --- | ---
מֶלֶךְ | מֶלֶךְ | identical (segolate) | king
דָּבָר | דְּבַר | qamets → shewa (propretonic) | word
סֵפֶר | סֵפֶר | identical (segolate) | book
עָם | עַם | qamets → patach | people
כֹּהֵן | כֹּהֵן | identical | priest

### Masculine Plural

The masculine plural construct has a distinctive, highly recognizable ending: ִים → ֵי.

Absolute | Construct | Change | Gloss
--- | --- | --- | ---
מְלָכִים | מַלְכֵי | ִים → ֵי + propretonic reduction | kings
דְּבָרִים | דִּבְרֵי | ִים → ֵי + reduction | words
בָּנִים | בְּנֵי | ִים → ֵי | sons
עֲבָדִים | עַבְדֵי | ִים → ֵי + reduction | servants
כֹּהֲנִים | כֹּהֲנֵי | ִים → ֵי | priests

> Memory key: Masculine plural construct = ֵי- suffix. This is one of the most recognizable forms in Biblical Hebrew. When you see a word ending in ֵי-, it is almost always a masculine plural construct.

## 4. Construct Forms: Feminine Nouns

### Feminine Singular

The feminine singular absolute ends in ָה- (qamets-he). In the construct, this ending changes to ַת- (patach-tav):

Absolute | Construct | Change | Gloss
--- | --- | --- | ---
תּוֹרָה | תּוֹרַת | ָה → ַת | law, Torah
מַלְכָּה | מַלְכַּת | ָה → ַת | queen
בְּרָכָה | בִּרְכַּת | ָה → ַת (+ reduction) | blessing
שָׁנָה | שְׁנַת | ָה → ַת (+ reduction) | year

> Memory key: Feminine singular construct ending = ַת-. Seeing this ending (especially in context with a following noun) is a reliable construct marker.

### Feminine Plural

The feminine plural ending וֹת- does not change in the construct state, though the accent may shift:

Absolute | Construct | Change | Gloss
--- | --- | --- | ---
תּוֹרוֹת | תּוֹרוֹת | identical | laws
מַלְכוֹת | מַלְכוֹת | identical | queens
בְּרָכוֹת | בִּרְכוֹת | accent shift only | blessings
שָׁנוֹת | שְׁנוֹת | reduction only | years

## 5. Rules for the Construct Chain

### Rule 1 — Article Position

Only the last noun in a chain can bear the definite article. The article on any earlier noun is grammatically impossible.

### Rule 2 — Extended (Multi-Link) Chains

Chains can extend to three or more links. Each link except the last is in the construct state:

> דְּבַר תּוֹרַת יְהוָה
> "the word of the law of the LORD" (3-link chain)
> — דְּבַר construct, תּוֹרַת construct, יְהוָה absolute (proper noun, definite)

Each interior noun is simultaneously the absolute of what precedes it and the construct of what follows it.

### Rule 3 — No Insertion

Nothing may be inserted between the construct noun and the absolute noun. An adjective, article, or any other element breaks the chain. This is why Hebrew cannot say ~~דְּבַר הַטּוֹב יְהוָה~~ ("the good word of the LORD") — the adjective must wait until after the entire chain.

### Rule 4 — Adjective Placement

An adjective modifying the construct noun is placed after the entire chain, and it agrees in gender, number, and definiteness with the noun it modifies:

> בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ הַגָּדוֹל
> This can mean: "the great house of the king" (הַגָּדוֹל modifies בֵּית)
> or: "the house of the great king" (הַגָּדוֹל modifies הַמֶּלֶךְ)
> Context and grammatical agreement resolve the ambiguity.

## 6. Translation of the Construct Chain

The construct chain can be rendered in English several ways. Choose the most natural:

Strategy | Hebrew | Translation
--- | --- | ---
"of" | דְּבַר יְהוָה | "the word of the LORD"
Possessive 's | בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ | "the king's house"
Compound noun | עֵץ הַחַיִּים | "tree of life" / "the life tree"
Adjectival | אֵשׁ קֹדֶשׁ | "holy fire" (construct used for adjectival force)
Genitive of material | כְּלִי זָהָב | "vessel of gold" = "golden vessel"
Genitive of purpose | בֵּית תְּפִלָּה | "house of prayer" = "house for prayer"

> Translation tip: The "of" rendering is always grammatically safe, but "the king's house" is often more natural English than "the house of the king." Learn to recognize when the possessive or compound is preferable.

## 7. Common Construct Phrases in the OT

These chains appear hundreds — or thousands — of times in the Hebrew Bible. Memorizing them pays enormous dividends in reading fluency.

Hebrew | Transliteration | Translation | Approx. Freq.
--- | --- | --- | ---
דְּבַר יְהוָה | debar YHWH | the word of the LORD | ~240×
בֵּית יְהוָה | bêt YHWH | the house of the LORD | ~760×
עֶבֶד יְהוָה | ʿebed YHWH | servant of the LORD | ~40×
יוֹם יְהוָה | yôm YHWH | the day of the LORD | ~25×
בְּרִית יְהוָה | berît YHWH | the covenant of the LORD | ~30×
בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל | benê Yiśrāʾēl | the sons/children of Israel | ~630×
מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל | melek Yiśrāʾēl | the king of Israel | ~100×
אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל | ʾĕlōhê Yiśrāʾēl | the God of Israel | ~200×
עִיר דָּוִד | ʿîr Dāwid | the city of David | ~45×
תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה | tôrat Mōšeh | the law/Torah of Moses | ~20×
קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים | qōdeš qodāšîm | holy of holies | ~40×
רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים | rûaḥ ʾĔlōhîm | the Spirit of God | ~11×
כְּבוֹד יְהוָה | kebôd YHWH | the glory of the LORD | ~50×
שֵׁם יְהוָה | šēm YHWH | the name of the LORD | ~100×
אַרְצוֹת הַגּוֹיִם | arṣôt haggôyîm | the lands of the nations | ~15×

> Note: בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל is the single most common construct chain in the Torah. The construct בְּנֵי is the masculine plural construct of בֵּן (son), and the ֵי- ending clearly signals the construct state.

## 8. Key Terms

Term | Definition
--- | ---
Construct state (סְמִיכוּת) | The modified form of a noun when it governs a following noun in a chain
Absolute state | The normal, unmodified dictionary form of a noun
Nomen regens | Latin: "governing noun" — the construct (first) noun in the chain
Nomen rectum | Latin: "governed noun" — the absolute (last) noun in the chain
Semikhut | Hebrew linguistic term for the construct chain relationship
Definiteness | In a construct chain, determined solely by the absolute noun (not the construct)
Propretonic reduction | The shortening of a long vowel two syllables before the accent when affixes shift the stress
Construct ending | Masc. plural: ֵי-

## 9. Practice

Resource | Description
--- | ---
Construct Chain Drill | 25-item drill identifying construct noun, absolute noun, definiteness, and translation