A brief introduction to the piel binyan in Biblical Hebrew.

1. Biblical Hebrew
Getting to Know ‫ פִּעֵל‬Verbs
by Chris Heard

2. Table of Contents
Before You Begin ...................... 3
Abbreviations ............................ 6
Using ‫ פִּעֵל‬verbs ....................... 7
Recognizing ‫ פִּעֵל‬verbs .......... 16
Forming ‫ פִּעֵל‬verbs ................ 33
Credits ..................................... 58

3. Before You Begin …
… ensure that you recognize the
various inflections of the ‫ &ל‬verbs.
… ensure that you understand how
‫ שְׁו(א‬and ‫ דָּגֵשׁ‬interact with guttural
consonants and with ‫.ר‬

4. Also, remember that certain
patterns can create predictable
variations. This slideshow focuses
on core patterns. It does not
illustrate every possible variation.

5. Furthermore, this slideshow
is intended to supplement,
not replace, classroom
instruction and practice.

6. Abbreviations
1, 2, 3 indicate grammatical person
m, f, c indicate grammatical gender
s, p indicate grammatical number
R1, R2, R3 indicate root letters

7. Using ‫ פִּעֵל‬Verbs
The ‫ פִּעֵל‬is the third most
frequently used ‫ בִּנ2י(ן‬in the 5‫תַּנ7״‬
(after the ‫ &ל‬and ‫,)הִפְעִיל‬
appearing over 6,450 times.

8. Like the ‫ ,&ל‬the ‫ פִּעֵל‬operates
in the active voice.

9. In cases where Biblical Hebrew
uses the same ‫ שֹׁ<שׁ‬in both the
‫ &ל‬and the ‫ ,פִּעֵל‬the ‫ &ל‬tends
to be declarative and the ‫פִּעֵל‬
to be factitive.

10. Example: ‫כבד‬
‫)&ל( כָּבַד‬ he was honored
he considered
‫)פִּעֵל( כִּבֵּד‬ [someone] honored

11. Example: ‫למד‬
‫)&ל( לָמַד‬ he learned
‫)פִּעֵל( לִמֵּד‬ he taught

12. In other cases, a ‫ שֹׁ<שׁ‬may be
represented in both ‫ &ל‬and
‫ ,פִּעֵל‬with no obvious semantic
relationship between the two
forms.

13. Some ‫שִׁים‬Eָ‫ שׁ‬may appear only
in the ‫ ,פִּעֵל‬not in the ‫ &ל‬at all.
Example: ‫“ צִוָּה‬to command”

14. So you might use the ‫ פִּעֵל‬as a
factitive verb (if the ‫ שֹׁ<שׁ‬also
appears in ‫ )&ל‬or as a
declarative verb (if the ‫שֹׁ<שׁ‬
doesn’t appear in the ‫.)&ל‬

15. For most verbs, it’s probably
better just to learn “this ‫שֹׁ<שׁ‬
means so-and-so in the ‫”פִּעֵל‬
than to try to derive the ‫’פִּעֵל‬s
sense from the same ‫ שֹׁ<שׁ‬in
the ‫.&ל‬

16. Recognizing ‫ פִּעֵל‬Verbs
In many cases, a ‫ דָּגֵשׁ‬in R2 is
your key to recognizing a ‫.פִּעֵל‬
Each conjugation does have
special considerations, though.

17. Recognizing the ‫ פִּעֵל‬Perfect
If a verb follows the suffix
pattern, has an i-class vowel
under R1, and has a ‫ דָּגֵשׁ‬in R2,
it’s probably a ‫ פִּעֵל‬perfect.

18. ‫קטֵל‬ִּ
R1’s i-vowel
The suffix ‫דּב ה‬
‫ ְר‬
ָּ ִ and the ‫דָּגֵשׁ‬
indicates
‫שׁלַחְ תִּי‬
ּ ִ
in R2 indicate
a perfect.
a ‫.פִּעֵל‬
‫שׁלַמְתֶּם‬ּ ִ

19. ‫נ חַם‬ ִ
A guttural in
The suffix 5O‫בּ‬ ֵ R2 may or may
indicates
‫תִּי‬Nַ‫בּע‬ִ not change
a perfect.
R1’s vowel.
‫תֶּן‬Nַ‫ ח‬
ִ‫מ‬

20. Alert! When R2 is a guttural, use R1’s
vowel to distinguish the ‫ פִּעֵל‬perfect
from the ‫ &ל‬perfect.
‫ חַשׁ‬
ָ‫כּ‬ 3ms ‫ &ל‬perfect “to grow lean”
‫ חֵשׁ‬
ִ‫כּ‬ 3ms ‫ פִּעֵל‬perfect “to deny”

21. Recognizing the ‫ פִּעֵל‬Imperfect
If a verb has an imperfect prefix,
check for a ‫ שְׁו(א‬in the prefix, an a-
vowel under R1, and a ‫ דָּגֵשׁ‬in R2. If
you see those, you have a ‫פִּעֵל‬
imperfect.

22. ‫ חלֵק‬
ַּ
ְ‫י‬ The prefix’s ‫,שְׁו(א‬
The affixes ‫תּדבֵר‬
ּ ְַ
the a-vowel, and
indicate an
‫תּ ב ִי‬
‫ כ ַ ְס‬
ּ ְ the ‫ דָּגֵשׁ‬in R2
imperfect.
‫תּ שְׁלוּ‬ indicate a ‫.פִּעֵל‬
ּ ְ
ַ‫ ב‬

23. Recognizing the ‫ פִּעֵל‬Imperative
The ‫ פִּעֵל‬imperative looks just
like the ‫ פִּעֵל‬imperfect, but
without the prefix.
If R3 is ‫ ,ה‬R2’s vowel may lengthen in the imperative.

24. If it looks like a ‫ פִּעֵל‬perfect,
but R1 has an a-vowel, it’s
probably a ‫ פִּעֵל‬imperative.

25. Recognizing the ‫ פִּעֵל‬Infinitives
The ‫ פִּעֵל‬infinitive* and adverbial
infinitive** look exactly like the
2ms ‫ פִּעֵל‬imperative.
* Or “infinitive construct.” ** Or “infinitive absolute.”

26. Exception: If R3 is ‫ ,ה‬the 2ms
imperative and the adverbial
ֶ
infinitive end in ‫ ,–ה‬but the
infinitive ends in ‫.–וֹת‬

27. Recognizing the ‫ פִּעֵל‬Participle
The ms ‫ פִּעֵל‬participle looks just
like the 3ms ‫ פִּעֵל‬imperfect, but
with a ‫ מ‬as the prefixed letter.

28. Summary
You see an unfamiliar verb.
Might it be a ‫?פִּעֵל‬

29. Remember that a ‫ פִּעֵל‬will have a ‫דָּגֵשׁ‬
in R2* and will start with one of these:
• no prefix
• an imperfect prefix with a ‫שְׁו(א‬
• a prefixed ְ‫מ‬
* Unless R2 is a guttural.

30. If your probable ‫ פִּעֵל‬has no prefix,
check R1.
• If R1 has an i-vowel, it’s a ‫ פִּעֵל‬perfect.
• If R1 has an a-vowel, it’s a ‫פִּעֵל‬
infinitive, imperative, or adverbial
infinitive (listed by frequency).

31. If your probable ‫ פִּעֵל‬has
an imperfect prefix, it’s
obviously an imperfect.
If your probable ‫ פִּעֵל‬has a
ְ‫ מ‬prefix, it’s a participle.

32. And that’s all it takes
to recognize most
‫ פִּעֵל‬verbs!

33. Forming ‫ פִּעֵל‬Verbs
If you compose sentences in
Biblical Hebrew, eventually
you’ll need to use the ‫ .פִּעֵל‬This
is pretty easy to do, if you watch
out for gutturals and ‫.ר‬

34. Forming the ‫ פִּעֵל‬Perfect
Start by applying the
appropriate sufformative to
the root, to show person,
gender, and number.

35. Now consider the three root
letters in your word. If all three
are strong (not gutturals or ‫,)ר‬
forming the piel is easy: …

36. … simply vocalize R1 with
a ‫ חִי<ק‬and lengthen
(double) R2 with a ‫.דָּגֵשׁ‬

37. Of course, you still need
to vocalize R2, and how
you do this depends on
the sufformative.

38. • If your verb has no sufformative (it’s
3ms), vocalize R2 with a ‫י‬Oֵ‫.צ‬
• If your verb has a sufformative that’s a
vowel (3fs or 3cp), give R2 a vocal ‫.שְׁו(א‬
• If your verb has a sufformative that
begins with a consonant (all other
cases), vocalize R2 with a ‫ח‬S‫.פַּת‬

39. If your verb has a guttural in R3,
or a guttural or ‫ ר‬in R2, the
vowels will be a little different.
Your best bet is to look the ‫שׁׂ<שׁ‬
up in a lexicon to see how its ‫פִּעֵל‬
is vocalized, rather than trying to
apply rules to figure it out.

40. That said, here are a few
typical patterns for ‫פִּעֵל‬
forms with weak root
letters.

41. • If R2 is ‫ ה‬or ‫ ח‬or ‫ ,ע‬it will refuse the
‫ .דָּגֵשׁ‬Such an R2 might take ‫י‬Oֵ‫ צ‬like
strong ‫ פִּעֵל‬forms, or ‫ח‬S‫ פַּת‬instead.
• If R2 is ‫ א‬or ‫ ,ר‬it will refuse the ‫,דָּגֵשׁ‬
and R1 and R2 will both usually take
a ‫י‬Oֵ‫.צ‬
• If R3 is a ‫ ח‬or ‫ ,ע‬R2 will usually take
a ‫ח‬S‫.פַּת‬

42. Do not be upset if you find
exceptions to these general
patterns, and remember that
sufformatives can affect the
vowel patterns as well.

43. Forming the ‫ פִּעֵל‬Imperfect
Start by applying the
appropriate preformative and
sufformative to the root, to
show person, gender, and
number.

44. All imperfect preformatives
take a vocal ‫ שְׁו(א‬in the ‫פִּעֵל‬
(except the 1cs ‫ ,א‬which
requires a ‫ח‬S‫.)חָטֵף–פַּת‬

45. In the ‫ פִּעֵל‬imperfect, R1
regularly takes a ‫ח‬S‫פַּת‬
(except when R2 is ‫ א‬or ‫,ר‬
which makes R1 take ‫מֵץ‬W).

46. If R2 can accept a ‫,דָּגֵשׁ‬
give it one.

47. R2’s vowel is the most
variable vowel in the ‫פִּעֵל‬
imperfect. It’s usually a
‫י‬Oֵ‫ ,צ‬but …

48. • If the sufformative starts
with a vowel sound (2fs, 3mp,
2mp), give R2 a vocal ‫.שְׁו(א‬
• If R3 is ‫ ח‬or ‫ ,ע‬R2 will
probably want a ‫ח‬S‫.פַּת‬
• If R3 is ‫ ,ה‬follow the normal
third-‫( ה‬or ‫ )ל״ה‬pattern.

49. If your verb has a guttural in R3,
or a guttural or ‫ ר‬in R2, use a
lexicon to confirm the proper
vocalization.

50. Forming the ‫ פִּעֵל‬Imperative
To form the ‫ פִּעֵל‬imperative,
simply form a second-person
imperfect, then remove the
preformative.

51. Forming the ‫ פִּעֵל‬Infinitives
In most cases, you form the
‫ פִּעֵל‬infinitive* and adverbial
infinitive** just like you form
the ‫ פִּעֵל‬imperative.
* Or “infinitive construct.” ** Or “infinitive absolute.”

52. However, gutturals in R3
can cause variation.

53. If R3 is ‫ ,ה‬replace the ‫ ה‬with ‫וֹת‬
when forming the infinitive
(this is very common in other
‫ים‬X‫ בִּנ2י(נ‬as well). The adverbial
infinitive remains identical to
the imperative.

54. If R3 is a ‫ ח‬or ‫ ,ע‬you form the
adverbial imperative by giving
R2 a ‫י‬Oֵ‫ צ‬and R3 a ‫ח גְּנוּבָה‬S‫*.פַּת‬
* Or “furtive patach.”

55. Forming the ‫ פִּעֵל‬Participles
To form the masculine singular
‫ פִּעֵל‬participle, simply prefix ְ‫מ‬
to the imperative form.

56. To form the feminine
singular participle, append
‫ אֶלֶת‬to the masculine
-
singular participle.

57. To form the masculine and
feminine plural participles, give
R2 a vocal ‫ שְׁו(א‬and append the
normal suffixes for plural nouns.

58. Credits
Dead Sea photo by Wikimedia Commons contributor Xta11.
Used under a CC-SA license.
All other content by Dr. Chris Heard, Associate Professor of
Religion, Pepperdine University. Released under a CC-BY
license.
Grammatical terminology used in this presentation follows
R. Holmstedt and J. Cook, Biblical Hebrew: An Illustrated
Introduction (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2013).