What are the different forms of Hebrew verbs?
Hebrew verbs have seven different forms – qal (simple active), niphal (simple passive), hiphil (causative active), hophal (causative passive), hitpa’el (simple reflexive), piel (intensive active) and pual (intensive passive). Each form slightly changes the application of the verb as will be demonstrated with the verb “to cut” in the third person, masculine. The qal form is simply “he cut”. The niphal form would be “he was cut”. The hiphil form would be “he made cut”. The hophal is “he was made cut”. The piel is “he slashed”. The pual is “he was slashed”. A good Lexicon or dictionary such as Benjamin Davidson’s Analytical Lexicon is very helpful in identifying these different forms in Hebrew verbs. A dictionary such as Strong’s can be a little misleading. For example the verb ra’ah (Strong’s number 7200) states that this word can mean “see” or “appear” but this is a little misleading. The word ra’ah means “to see” but when used in the niphal form it would be “was seen” which means “to a
