Makef In Hebrew

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On many occasions in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), what looks somewhat like a hyphen or small horizontal stroke is used to join two or more Hebrew words together into one syntactic unit. In Hebrew, this horizontal stroke is called Makef.

Makef is used when two or more words are so closely related that they should be regarded as a single semantic unit for the purpose of stress and accent. This is discussed more fully under the lessons on Cantillation. When reading Hebrew from the Tanakh, however, the word is pronounced the same way with or without the Makef.

Here are some examples of Makef from the first few verses of Genesis:

Hebrew phrase al pne  on the surface of [the water], Genesis 1:2

Hebrew phrase vayhi or  and there was light, Genesis 1:3

Hebrew phrase ki tov  that it was good, Genesis 1:4

Hebrew phrase vayhi erev vayhi voker  and it was evening, and it was morning, Genesis 1:5

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