how to say “arm” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זרוע-1.m4a” /]זְרוֹעַ

Though יד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זרוע-2.m4a” /] refers not only to the hand but also to the entire limb stretching out from the shoulder to the fingertips, the Hebrew word זרוע, sometimes called זרוע היד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זרוע-3.m4a” /], refers specifically to the arm.

You may recognize it from the Biblical verse:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זרוע-4.m4a” /]אוֹ הֲנִסָּה אֱלֹהִים לָבוֹא לָקַחַת לוֹ גוֹי מִקֶּרֶב גּוֹי בְּמַסֹּת בְּאֹתֹת וּבְמוֹפְתִים וּבְמִלְחָמָה וּבְיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה… (דברים ד’:כ”ד)

Or, has a god ever attempted to come to take for himself a nation within a nation, with tests, with signs and wonders, and with war and a strong hand and an outstretched arm… (Deuteronomy 4:24)

In a more conversational context:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זרוע-5-2.m4a” /]מתחתי שריר בזרוע.

I pulled a muscle in my arm.

Most body parts that come in pairs have an ים- or יים-[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זרוע-6.m4a” /] ending, as in ידיים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זרוע-7.m4a” /]. One of the exceptions, the plural of זרוע is זרועות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זרוע-8.m4a” /].