Tuesday, March 22, 2022

The Hebrew preposition עם (ʿim) is the word for "with." An unsurprisingly common word, עם (ʿim) can convey a wide range of possible meanings as is possible with its English equivalent. A good example of עם (ʿim) is found in Psalm 28:3: "Do not drag me away with (עם) the wicked, withעם) those who are workers of evil, who speak peace with (עם) their neighbors, while mischief is in their hearts." The preposition עם (ʿim) is also used idiomatically in Hebrew when making comparisons, as in Ecclesiastes 7:11: "Wisdom is as good as (עם) an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun." Here, the word עם (ʿim) sets up the comparison between wisdom and an inheritance. Another idiomatic use of עם (ʿim) is its use as "from," as in Exodus 8:8: "Then Moses and Aaron went out fromעם, lit. "from with") Pharaoh."