21st Century Bible Hebrew -- noun-verb relationships

Genesis 1:20-21

כ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים יִשְׁרְצ֣וּ הַמַּ֔יִם שֶׁ֖רֶץ נֶ֣פֶשׁ חַיָּ֑ה וְעוֹף֙ יְעוֹפֵ֣ף עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ עַל־פְּנֵ֖י רְקִ֥יעַ הַשָּׁמָֽיִם:

כא וַיִּבְרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶת־הַתַּנִּינִ֖ם הַגְּדֹלִ֑ים וְאֵ֣ת כָּל־נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַֽחַיָּ֣ה ׀ הָֽרֹמֶ֡שֶׂת אֲשֶׁר֩ שָֽׁרְצ֨וּ הַמַּ֜יִם לְמִֽינֵהֶ֗ם וְאֵ֨ת כָּל־ע֤וֹף כָּנָף֙ לְמִינֵ֔הוּ וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב:

Translation: Gd said the waters will swarm with swarming things, soul of life; and fliers will fly over the earth against the raqia of heaven.

Gd created the large taninim; and all souls of life that creep that swarm the waters for their kinds, and all the fliers of wing for its kind, Gd manifested its goodness.

We’re going to focus on the first three words.

יִשְׁרְצוּ	swarm, imperfect aspect, 3rd plural
שֶׁרֶץ	swarming thing, noun, singular
שָׁרְצוּ	swarm, perfect aspect, 3rd plural

The root is sharats, swarm, things that reproduce in large numbers. The noun, as you can see, has two segols for vowels. The plural is שְׁרָצִים .

Now you can understand the relationship between two other words in the verse, except for one thing.

עוֹף	flying thing
יְעוֹפֵף	flies, imperfect aspect, hollow verb

Of is a verb with a central vav.  A similar verb root class in Arabic is called “hollow” because in some parts of the conjugation, the central vav disappears. In Arabic one of three things might replace it but in Hebrew, it’s either replaced by a qamats for “a”, or the verb sprouts a second copy of the last letter.  That’s what we have for the related verb.

This feature marks that this is the piel binyan for punctuated repetition. Flying things do not fly 24/7. They have to land to mate and lay eggs, for example, and birds and bats have homes in trees and caves as well as bees having their hollow trunks and hives.

© Patricia Jo Heil, 2013-2020 All Rights  Reserved