Bible Lexicons

Wilhelm Gesenius

Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius ( 3 February 1786 - 23 October 1842 ) was a German orientalist and Biblical critic.

He was born at Nordhausen, Germany. In 1803, Gesenius became a student of philosophy and theology at the University of Helmstedt, where Heinrich Henke was his most influential teacher; but the latter part of his university course was taken at the Göngen, where Johann Gottfried Eichhorn and Thomas Christian Tychsen were then at the height of their popularity.

In 1806, shortly after graduation, he became Repetent and Privatdozent at Göngen; and, as he was later proud to say, had August Neander for his first pupil in Hebrew language. In 1810 he became professor extrardinarius in theology, and in 1811 ordinarius, at the University of Halle, where, in spite of many offers of high preferment elsewhere, he spent the rest of his life.

In 1827, after declining an invitation to take Eichhorn's place at Göngen, Gesenius was made a Consistorialrath; but, apart from the violent attacks to which he, along with his friend and colleague Julius Wegsheider, was in 1830 subjected by E. W. Hengstenberg and his party in the Evangelische Kirchenzeitung, on account of his rationalism, his life was uneventful.

Gesenius died at Halle and is buried near the university. According to tradition, theology students in Halle put stones on his grave as a token of respect every year before their examinations.

Introduction

1. The Semitic Languages in General

2. Sketch of the History of the Hebrew Language

3. Grammatical Treatment of the Hebrew Language

4. Division and Arrangement of the Grammar

First Part
Elementary Principles or the Sounds and Characters
Chapter 1. The Individual Sounds and Characters

5. The Consonants: their Forms and Names

6. Pronunciation and Division of Consonants

7. The Vowels in General, Vowel Letters and Vowel Signs

8. The Vowel Signs in particular

9. Character of the several Vowels

10. The Half Vowels and the Syllable Divider ( Š^ewâ )

11. Other Signs which affect the Reading

12. Dageš in general, and Dageš forte in particular

13. Dageš lene

14. Mappîq and Rāphè

15. The Accents

16. Of Maqqēph and Mèthĕg

17. Of the Q^erê and K^ethîbh Masora marginalis and finalis

Chapter 2. Peculiarities and Changes of Letters:
the Syllable and the Tone

18. In General

19. Changes of Consonants

20. The Strengthening ( Sharpening ) of Consonants

21. The Aspiration of the Tenues

22. Peculiarities of the Gutturals

23. The Feebleness of the Gutturals א‎ and ה‎

24. Changes of the Weak Letters ו‎ and י‎

25. Unchangeable Vowels

26. Syllable-formation and its Influence on the Quantity of Vowels

27. The Change of the Vowels, especially as regards Quantity

28. The Rise of New Vowels and Syllables

29. The Tone, its Changes and the Pause

Second Part
Etymology or the Parts of Speech

30. Stems and Roots: Biliteral, Triliteral, and Quadriliteral

31. Grammatical Structure

Chapter 1. The Pronoun

32. The Personal Pronoun The Separate Pronoun

33. Pronominal Suffixes

34. The Demonstrative Pronoun

35. The Article

36. The Relative Pronoun

37. The Interrogative and Indefinite Pronouns

Chapter 2. The Verb

38. General View

39. Ground-form and Derived Stems

40. Tenses Moods Flexion

41. Variations from the Ordinary Form of the Strong Verb

1. The Strong Verb

42. In General

A. The Pure Stem, or Qal

43. Its Form and Meaning

44. Flexion of the Perfect of Qal

45. The Infinitive

46. The Imperative

47. The Imperfect and its Inflexion

48. Shortening and Lengthening of the Imperfect and Imperative The Jussive and Cohortative

49. The Perfect and Imperfect with Wāw Consecutive

50. The Participle

B. Verba Derivativa, or Derived Conjugations

51. Niphʿal

52. Piʿēl and Puʿal

53. Hiphʿîl and Hophʿal

54. Hithpaʿēl

55. Less Common Conjugations

56. Quadriliterals

C. Strong Verb with Pronominal Suffixes

57. In general

58. The Pronominal Suffixes of the Verb

59. The Perfect with Pronominal Suffixes

60. Imperfect with Pronominal Suffixes

61. Infinitive, Imperative and Participle with Pronominal Suffixes

Verbs and Gutturals

62. Verbs with Gutturals

63. Verbs First Guttural, eg עָמַד‎ to stand

64. Verbs Middle Guttural, eg שָׁחַט‎ to slaughter

65. Verbs Third Guttural, eg שָׁלַח‎ to send

1. The Weak Verb

66. Verbs Primae Radicalis Nûn ( פ״ן‎ ) , eg נָגַשׁ‎ to approach

67. Verbs ע״ע‎, eg סָבַב‎ to surround

2. The Weakest Verbs ( Verba Quiescentia )

68. Verbs פ״א‎ eg אָכַל‎ to eat

69. Verbs פ״י‎ First Class, or Verbs originally פ״ו‎, eg יָשַׁב‎ to dwell

70. Verbs פ״י‎ Second Class, or Verbs properly פ״י‎, eg יָטַב‎ to be good Paradigm L

71. Verbs פ״י‎ Third Class, or Verbs with Yôdh assimilated

72. Verbs ע״וּ‎ ( vulgo ע״ו‎ ) , eg קוּם‎ to rise up Paradigm M

73. Verbs middle i ( vulgo ע״י‎ ) , eg בִּין‎ to discern Paradigm N

74. Verbs ל״א‎, eg מָצָא‎ to find Paradigm O

75. Verbs ל״ה‎, eg גָּלָה‎ to reveal Paradigm P

76. Verbs Doubly Weak

77. Relation of the Weak Verbs to one another

Chapter 3. The Noun

78. Verba Defectiva

79. General View

80. The Indication of Gender in Nouns

81. Derivation of Nouns

82. Primitive Nouns

83. Verbal Nouns in General

84^a Nouns derived from the Simple Stem

85. Nouns with Preformatives and Afformatives

86. Denominative Nouns

87. Of the Plural

88. Of the Dual

89. The Genitive and the Construct State

90. Real and Supposed Remains of Early Case-endings ־ָה‎ local, וּ‎ in compound proper names, ־ִי‎ and וֹ‎ in the Construct State

91. The Noun with Pronominal Suffixes

92. Vowel Changes in the Noun

93. Paradigms of Masculine Nouns

94. Formation of Feminine Nouns

95. Paradigms of Feminine Nouns

96. Nouns of Peculiar Formation

97. Numerals ( a ) Cardinal Numbers

98. Numerals ( b ) Ordinal Numbers

Chapter 4. The Particles

99. General View

100. Adverbs

101. Prepositions

102. Prefixed Prepositions

103. Prepositions with Pronominal Suffixes and in the Plural Form

104. Conjunctions

105. Interjections

THIRD PART
SYNTAX
Chapter 2. The Parts of Speech
1. Syntax of the Verb.
A. Use of the Tenses and Moods.

106. Use of the Perfect

107. Use of the Imperfect

108. Use of the Cohortative

109. Use of the Jussive

110. The Imperative

111. The Imperfect with Wāw Consecutive

112. The Perfect with Wāw Consecutive

B. The Infinitive and Participle

113. The Infinitive Absolute

114. The Infinitive Construct

115. Construction of the Infinitive Construct with Subject and Object

116. The Participles

C. The Government of the Verb

117. The Direct Subordination of the Noun to the Verb as Accusative of the Object The Double Accusative

118. The Looser Subordination of the Accusative to the Verb

119. The Subordination of Nouns to the Verb by means of Prepositions

120. Verbal Ideas under the Government of a Verb Co-ordination of Complementary Verbal Ideas

121. Construction of Passive Verbs

2. Syntax of the Noun

122. Indication of the Gender of the Noun

123. The Representation of Plural Ideas by Means of Collectives, and by the Repetition of Words

124. The Various Uses of the Plural-form

125. Determination of Nouns in general Determination of Proper Names

126. Determination by Means of the Article

127. The Noun determined by a following Determinate Genitive

128. The Indication of the Genitive Relation by means of the Construct State

129. Expression of the Genitive by Circumlocution

130. Wider Use of the Construct State

131. Apposition

132. Connexion of the Substantive with the Adjective

133. The Comparison of Adjectives ( Periphrastic Expression of the Comparative and Superlative )

134. Syntax of the Numerals

3. Syntax of the Pronoun

135. The Personal Pronoun

136. The Demonstrative Pronoun

137. The Interrogative Pronouns

138. The Relative Pronoun

139. Expression of Pronominal Ideas by means of Substantives

Chapter 2. The Sentence
1. The Sentence in General

140. Noun-clauses, Verbal-clauses, and the Compound Sentence

141. The Noun-clause

142. The Verbal-clause

143. The Compound Sentence

144. Peculiarities in the Representation of the Subject ( especially in the Verbal-clause )

145. Agreement between the Members of a Sentence, especially between Subject and Predicate, in respect of Gender and Number

146. Construction of Compound Subjects

147. Incomplete Sentences

2. Special Kinds of Sentences

148. Exclamations

149. Sentences which express an Oath or Asseveration

150. Interrogative Sentences

151. Desiderative Sentences

152. Negative Sentences

153. Restrictive and Intensive Clauses

154. Sentences connected by Wāw

155. Relative Clauses

156. Circumstantial Clauses

157. Object-Clauses ( Oratio Obliqua )

158. Causal Clauses

159. Conditional Sentences

160. Concessive Clauses

161. Comparative Clauses

162. Disjunctive Sentences

163. Adversative and Exceptive Clauses

164. Temporal Clauses

165. Final Clauses

166. Consecutive Clauses

167. Aposiopesis, Anacoluthon, Involved Series of Sentences