Hebrew Noun Constructs

When two nouns are put together as a single term to express a concept or idea, it is known as a noun construct. Bringing two nouns together in this way is a relatively common feature in written Hebrew, one that can be seen from Biblical times onwards.

For example, the concept of the 'messenger of God' is expressed in one noun construct as מַלְאַךְ אֱלֹהִים, with 'of' implied rather than written.

In a situation when the first word of the two that make up the construct is feminine and ends with ה, it is changed to ת. As an example, if you were to combine תוֹרָה (meaning 'teachings') with אֱלֹהִים to form the phrase 'teachings of God', the final construct would be תוֹרָת אֱלֹהִים.


Introduction to Reading Hebrew
The first basics
The Hebrew AlephBet
The Letters of the AlephBet
Aleph
Bet (Beyt)
Gimmel
Dalet
Hey
Vav
Zayin
Chet
Tet
Yod
Kaf
Lamed
Mem
Nun
Samekh
Ayin
Pey (Fey)
Tsade (Tsadik)
Qof
Resh
Shin
Tav
The Significance of the Alephbet
The Basics of Hebrew Verbs
The Hebrew Verb Subject
The Hebrew Verb Object
Hebrew Verb Tenses
Hebrew Verb Voices and Moods
Hebrew Verb Participles
The Infinite Verb Version
Hebrew Nouns
Hebrew Noun Constructs
Using Prefixes With Nouns
Hebrew Pronouns
Hebrew Plural Nouns
Hebrew Adjectives
Identifying Hebrew Questions
Adverbs, Prepositions and Conjunctions
Hebrew Reading Conclusion