I recently told you about the Hebrew reading strategies I use to increase my vocabulary, comprehension, and overall Hebrew language skills. I figured, why not help you along by providing some short Hebrew quotes or verses that you can practice translating? Allow me to introduce my new Hebrew Through Reading (HTR) series, which will give you Bite-Sized Hebrew Lessons the first Yom Sheni (Mon.) of every month. Through the HTR series, I’ll break down all the Hebrew vocabulary, explain grammar, and end with a handy Hebrew lesson summary you can pin or save. 

These mini Hebrew lessons won’t replace your regular studies, but they will enhance them, and teach you about Hebrew sentence structure, verbs, grammar, and of course, lots of vocabulary. So let’s get to it!

תבונה is a feminine noun that means wisdom, or intelligence. It shares a root with the verb להבין, which means to understand.

אדם is a masculine noun meaning [a] man, [a] person, or [a] human. The indefinite article “a” is in brackets because it doesn’t exist in Hebrew; it’s implied, along with the indefinite article “an.” The prefix ה means the. Together, האדם means the man or the person.

These two nouns are combined to create the construct תבונת האדם; one way of creating a construct state is by replacing the final ה in a feminine noun with a ת. This expresses a relationship between the two nouns, often linked by the word “of.” For instance, you may be familiar with the phrase “Torat Moshe.” It’s a construct between Torah and Moshe (Moses), meaning “the Law of Moses.”

So together, תבונת האדם means “the wisdom of a person” (or “the intelligence of a man” or “a person‘s intelligence” or “a man‘s wisdom” – remember there can be multiple translations that are all correct).

היא is a feminine singular pronoun meaning she [is] or it [is], when it refers to a feminine noun. It’s used to let us know who or what is the subject of the sentence; in this case, it refers to the feminine “wisdom of a man/person.” The word [is] is in brackets because it’s implied – there is no Hebrew word for “am,” “is,” or “are,” because the verb “to be” is not used in Hebrew in the present-tense.

בסיס is a masculine noun meaning basis or foundation. Again, the ה prefix means the. Together, הבסיס means the basis or the foundation.

So far, we have “the wisdom of a person it is the basis/foundation”

כל is a masculine singular noun that means all or every. The prefix ל means to or for. Together, לכל means to all or for all.

הצלחה is a feminine noun that means success. You may have heard the term “b’hatslacha,” which is a way to wish someone success on a test, job interview, new business venture, etc. Its root forms the verb להצליח, which means to succeed.

Putting this all together, we have “The wisdom of a person it is the foundation for all success.” “It is” sounds a bit clunky here; it would make better English sense to take out the it, leaving just is. 

THE WISDOM OF A PERSON IS THE FOUNDATION FOR ALL SUCCESS.

Be sure to pin the Bite-Sized Hebrew Lesson summary below so you can always refer back to it.

Please leave your feedback in the comments below!! Also let me know if you would be interested in having an audio option for the entire lesson, instead of just the Hebrew quote.

Until next time!
-T’helah 💙