BBH Chapter 22 — Qal Participle (Active and Passive)

Files

Reference Files

Exercises

Flashcards

Notebooks

Basics of Biblical Hebrew, Pratico & Van Pelt
Data: MACULA Hebrew WLC (~5,992 Qal Participle tokens OT-wide)

1. Function (BBH §22.2)

The Participle is a verbal adjective — it has the properties of both a verb (it can take objects and express ongoing action) and an adjective (it agrees with a noun in gender and number, can appear in construct, and can function as a substantive). Unlike finite verbs, the participle does not express tense by itself; temporal meaning comes from context.

Active Participle

Passive Participle

Key diagnostic: Active participle → holem-waw + tsere (strong A: שֹׁמֵר). Passive participle → shureq + holem (שָׁמ֥וּר). The vowel pattern is the primary identifier. Participles inflect for gender and number like adjectives.

2. Form — Diagnostic Markers (BBH §22.3–22.5)

Active Participle

• Strong root (A-class): שֹׁמֵר (ms) — holem-waw on R1 + tsere on R2
• Strong root (B-class / gutt. R3): שֹׁמֵ֣עַ — holem-waw + tsere + patach before guttural
• Feminine singular: שֹׁמֶ֫רֶת or שֹׁמְרָה — ת suffix (segholate-like) or ָה suffix
• Masculine plural: שֹׁמְרִים — holem-waw + shewa + R3 + ִים
• Feminine plural: שֹׁמְרוֹת — וֹת suffix
• III-ה roots: עֹשֶׂה (ms) — holem-waw + seghol + ה (retained)
• Biconsonantal roots: בָּא (ms) / קָם (ms) — qamets + final consonant; long vowel preserved
• I-י roots: יוֹשֵׁב (ms) — yod + holem-waw + tsere; yod visible (contrast IC)
• Hollow/Biconsonantal: מֵת (ms, מות) — tsere + taw
• I-aleph (אמר): אֹמֵ֣ר — holem-waw on aleph + tsere

Passive Participle

• Strong root (A-class): שָׁמ֥וּר (ms) — qamets + shureq; qatûl pattern
• Feminine singular: שְׁמוּרָ֥ה — shewa + shureq + ָה
• Masculine plural: שְׁמוּרִ֥ים — shewa + shureq + ִים
• III-ה roots: בָּר֥וּךְ (בּרך, Piel ptc passive) / נָת֥וּן — III-ה: וּ + ן ending
• Common lexicalized forms: בָּר֥וּךְ ("blessed"), אָר֥וּר ("cursed"), כָּת֥וּב ("written"), נָת֥וּן ("given")

3. Paradigm

Full paradigm tables are in the paradigm reference file.

4. Real Forms — שָׁמַר

Active Participle

Passive Participle

5. Most Common Lemmas — Qal Active Participle in the Torah

Corpus: Genesis–Deuteronomy · 930 Qal active participle tokens

6. Most Common Lemmas — Qal Passive Participle in the Torah

Corpus: Genesis–Deuteronomy · 259 Qal passive participle tokens

7. Example Passages

Active Participle — Attributive

Attributive — Gen 37:2 — וְה֗וּא נַ֛עַר אֶת-בְּנֵ֥י בִלְהָ֖ה וְאֶת-בְּנֵ֣י זִלְפָּ֑ה נְשֵׁ֣י אָבִ֔יו וַיָּבֵ֥א יוֹסֵ֛ף אֶת-דִּבָּתָ֥ם רָעָ֖ה אֶל-אֲבִיהֶֽם׃
"…he was a youth, and he was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives."

Attributive — Exo 3:2 — וְהִנֵּ֤ה הַסְּנֶה֙ בֹּעֵ֣ר בָּאֵ֔שׁ וְהַסְּנֶ֖ה אֵינֶ֥נּוּ אֻכָּֽל׃
"…behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed."
→ בֹּעֵ֣ר = Qal active ptc. ms of בער ("burn"); attributive; describes the state of the bush.

Active Participle — Predicate / Verbless Clause

Predicate — Gen 18:1 — וְהוּא יֹשֵׁ֤ב פֶּֽתַח-הָאֹ֙הֶל֙
"…while he was sitting at the entrance of the tent."
→ יֹשֵׁ֤ב = Qal active ptc. ms of ישב; predicate use in a circumstantial clause; describes Abraham's ongoing posture.

Predicate — Gen 16:8 — מִזֶּ֣ה בָ֔את וְאָ֖נָה תֵּלֵ֑כִי
"Where have you come from and where are you going?"

Active Participle — Substantive (Noun)

Substantive — Gen 4:9 — הֲשֹׁמֵ֥ר אָחִ֖י אָנֹֽכִי
"Am I my brother's keeper?"
→ שֹׁמֵ֥ר = Qal active ptc. ms of שמר used as a noun ("keeper"); direct question in a verbless clause.

Substantive — Lev 25:25 — וּבָ֤א גֹאֲל֔וֹ הַקָּרֹ֥ב אֵלָ֖יו
"…then his redeemer, the one who is near to him, shall come."
→ גֹּאֵ֣ל = Qal active ptc. ms of גאל as a substantive; "kinsman-redeemer"; one of the most theologically significant participle-nouns in the OT.

Active Participle — Progressive Present (after הִנֵּה)

Progressive — Gen 15:3 — הִנֵּ֛ה לִ֥י לֹ֖א נָתַ֣תָּה זָ֑רַע
"Behold, you have given me no offspring…"

Progressive — Exo 3:13 — הִנֵּ֥ה אָנֹכִ֛י שֹׁלֵ֥חַ מַלְאָ֖ךְ לְפָנֶ֑יךָ
"Behold, I am sending an angel before you."
→ שֹׁלֵ֥חַ = Qal active ptc. ms of שלח; after הִנֵּה = imminent/progressive; God's announcement of the present-tense action.

Active Participle — Occupational/Title

Title — Gen 4:20 — הָיָ֥ה אֲבִ֛י יֹשֵׁ֥ב אֹ֖הֶל וּמִקְנֶֽה
"He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock."
→ יֹשֵׁ֥ב = Qal active ptc. ms of ישב as a title/occupational noun; "tent-dwellers."

Passive Participle — Predicate ("Blessed" / "Cursed" Formulas)

Passive predicate — Gen 3:14 — אָר֤וּר אַתָּה֙ מִכָּל-הַבְּהֵמָ֔ה
"Cursed are you more than all livestock."
→ אָר֤וּר = Qal passive ptc. ms of ארר; predicate: "you are cursed"; a fixed liturgical formula throughout Genesis.

Passive predicate — Gen 14:19 — בָּר֤וּךְ אַבְרָם֙ לְאֵ֣ל עֶלְי֔וֹן
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High."
→ בָּר֤וּךְ = Qal passive ptc. ms of ברך; blessing formula; one of 17 Torah occurrences.

Passive Participle — Attributive

Attributive — Deu 9:10 — וַיִּתֵּ֨ן יְהוָ֜ה אֵלַ֗י אֶת-שְׁנֵ֛י לוּחֹ֥ת הָאֲבָנִ֖ים כְּתֻבִ֣ים בְּאֶצְבַּ֣ע אֱלֹהִ֑ים
"And the LORD gave me the two stone tablets written with the finger of God."
→ כְּתֻבִ֣ים = Qal passive ptc. mp of כתב; attributive; agrees with לוּחֹ֥ת (mp).

Attributive — Exo 6:6 — בִּזְר֥וֹעַ נְטוּיָ֖ה
"…with an outstretched arm."
→ נְטוּיָ֖ה = Qal passive ptc. fs of נטה; attributive; modifies זְרוֹעַ (arm, fs); the "outstretched arm" formula appears 15+ times in the Torah.

8. Conjugation Distribution — Qal (OT-wide)

Teaching note: The Qal active participle (5,078 tokens, 10.9%) is the fourth most common Qal conjugation — more frequent than the Infinitive Construct. The passive participle (914 tokens, 2.0%) is rarer but highly concentrated: the three most common forms (בְּלוּלָ֥ה, אָר֕וּר, בָּר֥וּךְ) account for nearly a third of all Torah passive participle tokens, appearing in the grain offering formulas and the blessing/curse liturgies.

9. Parsing Quick Reference