קריאת עברית
Hebrew is read right to left. In this interlinear edition, each Hebrew word appears above its English gloss; the Transliterate button adds a pronunciation under every word, and a tap on any word opens its root scorecard. This guide introduces the Hebrew alphabet and vowel system, the marks you will meet in this edition, and the reader itself, so you can begin reading on your own.
| Letter | Name | Sound | As in... |
|---|---|---|---|
| א | Aleph | silent | (vowel carrier) |
| בּ / ב | Bet / Vet | b / v | boy / vine |
| ג | Gimel | g | good |
| ד | Dalet | d | door |
| ה | He | h | house |
| ו | Vav | v | vine (also used as vowel: o, u) |
| ז | Zayin | z | zoo |
| ח | Chet | ch | Bach (guttural, not "ch" as in church) |
| ט | Tet | t | top |
| י | Yod | y | yes (also used as vowel: i, e) |
| כּ / כ / ך | Kaf / Khaf | k / kh | king / loch |
| ל | Lamed | l | light |
| מ / ם | Mem | m | mother |
| נ / ן | Nun | n | night |
| ס | Samekh | s | sun |
| ע | Ayin | silent | (guttural vowel carrier) |
| פּ / פ / ף | Pe / Fe | p / f | park / fire |
| צ / ץ | Tsade | ts | cats |
| ק | Qof | q / k | king (deeper in throat) |
| ר | Resh | r | run (slightly rolled) |
| שׁ / שׂ | Shin / Sin | sh / s | shine / sun (dot right = sh, dot left = s) |
| ת | Tav | t | tree |
Biblical Hebrew writes vowels as small dots and marks placed above or below the consonant letters. These are called nikkud (literally "dotting"). The consonant is always spoken first, followed by its vowel.
| Symbol | Name | Sound | As in... |
|---|---|---|---|
| בַ | Patach | a | father (short) |
| בָ | Qamats | a | father (long) |
| בֶ | Segol | e | bed |
| בֵ | Tsere | e | they (long "ay") |
| בִ | Chiriq | i | machine |
| בֹ | Cholam | o | go (long "oh") |
| בוֹ | Cholam Male | o | go (with vav as vowel letter) |
| בֻ | Qubbuts | u | rule |
| בוּ | Shuruk | u | rule (vav with dot = "oo") |
| בְ | Shva | e / ∅ | quick "uh" or silent |
| בֲ | Chataf Patach | a | quick "ah" |
| בֱ | Chataf Segol | e | quick "eh" |
| בֳ | Chataf Qamats | o | quick "oh" |
A dot placed inside a consonant is called a dagesh. For three letters, it changes the pronunciation:
| בּ | b (boy) | ב | v (vine) |
| כּ | k (king) | כ | kh (loch) |
| פּ | p (park) | פ | f (fire) |
For all other letters, the dagesh simply indicates a doubled or strengthened sound.
The maqqef ־ is a small horizontal line that joins two or more words into a single unit, much like a hyphen in English. For example: אֶת־הָאָרֶץ (et-ha'arets) = "[ACC]-the-land."
A few marks are not in the tables above but appear on every page of this edition.
| Mark | Name | Sound | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| כׇּ | Qamats Qatan | o | a short "o", written like a qamats: this edition shows it in red so you know to read kol, not kal, in כׇּל "all" |
| ׃ | Sof Pasuq | — | marks the end of a verse |
| בְּרֵאשִׁית | Vocal Shva | e | a shva under the first letter of a word, or after a long vowel or a doubled letter, is a quick "e": be-re-sheet; otherwise it is silent |
| רוּחַ | Furtive Patach | a | a patach under a final ח, ע or הּ is spoken before the letter: ru-ach, not ru-cha |
| וַיֹּאמֶר | Vav Consecutive | va- | vav with patach and a doubled letter turns a future form into narrative past: vayomer, "and he said" — the commonest verb shape in the book |
| יְהוָה | The Name | Adonai | the four letters of the divine name are not sounded; read Adonai, "the Lord", which is what the Transliterate button writes |
The Transliterate button writes each word in Latin letters. The scheme is the popular one, not the scholarly one: ch is ח (as in Bach), kh is כ without a dagesh (loch), ts is צ, k stands for both ק and כּ, sh and s follow the dot on שׁ and שׂ, and א and ע are not written. A doubled consonant shows a dagesh forte: lakkore for לַקּוֹרֵא. Words joined by a maqqef are joined by a hyphen: devar-Adonai.
The bar at the foot of the screen sets the view: Interlinear (Hebrew with a gloss under each word), Hebrew Only, Dual (Hebrew and English side by side), Transliterate, and No Nikkud (the consonants alone, as in a Torah scroll). Beside it the buttons turn the chapter, and the chapter name between them opens the list of books. The two letters at the head of the page change the size of the text; the moon turns on night reading.
Tap any Hebrew word and its root scorecard opens: the root and its meaning, how many times that root occurs in each of the six volumes, its forms and glosses, and every reference. The scorecards are there so that you can test the translation for yourself: a word chosen for the Book of Mormon can be weighed against the same root in the Hebrew Bible, and where a root is rare or unattested the card says so.
Words in blue belong to the major themes of the Topical Guide; tap one to open the theme. Press and hold to select a run of words, then highlight it, add a note, copy or share it, or open its cross-references and glossary. Search finds Hebrew with or without vowel points, or English. The other five volumes open from the Standard Works page, and every scorecard reaches across all six.
The Hebrew text is an original translation into Biblical Hebrew by Chris Lambe; the English shown in Dual view is the 1920 edition. The reader itself was built with artificial intelligence under the translator's direction. The Brief Explanation in the front matter says more: About this edition →
Try sounding out these common words. Remember: read right to left, consonant first, then its vowel.