how to say “to enlarge” in Hebrew
לְהַגְדִּיל
Eliyahu, one the students in my Level 5 class at AACI Jerusalem was trying to say to enlarge something, but used the word for to raise instead. It’s an excellent error for a budding Hebrew speaker, as it presents the opportunity to distinguish between not only two different words, but two different word types.
לְגַדֵּל (leh-gah-DEL) means to raise – a person, a dog, a plant, etc. This is an “intensive” פיעל (pee-EL) verb.
לְהַגְדִּיל (leh-hahg-DEEL), coming from the same ג.ד.ל (g.d.l) root meaning large, means to enlarge something, such as a picture using paint.net. להגדיל is a “causative” הפעיל (heef-EEL) verb.
Eliyahu is in good company. In fact, the very Book of Esther that Jews around the world will be reading tomorrow night and Sunday night in Jerusalem uses לְגַדֵּל to mean something to the effect of to enlarge, when King Ahasuerus promotes Haman to be the royal vizier of Persia (Esther 3:1).
This week has been one of mixed emotion in Israel – one the one hand, strong feelings of grief and anger after the murders of a family last week, and on the other hand, feelings of excitement and joy with Purim spirit in the air.
Going from agony to joy (Esther 9:22) is what this time of year is about… as well as other times on the Jewish calendar. This particular time of year has the added element of the existential danger that has threatened the people of Israel throughout our history… as well as the salvation that has repeatedly come.
Here’s a song that fleshes out the hope of salvation. This one also comes to us from The Idan Raichel Project: מִנְעִי קוֹלֵך מִבֶּכִי (meen-EE koh-LEKH mee-BEH-khee) – Restrain Your Voice from Weeping. Check it out.
שבת שלום, סוף שבוע נעים, ופורים שמח לכולם!
Shabbat Shalom, pleasant weekend and happy Purim to all!
לְגַדֵּל (leh-gah-DEL) means to raise – a person, a dog, a plant, etc. This is an “intensive” פיעל (pee-EL) verb.
לְהַגְדִּיל (leh-hahg-DEEL), coming from the same ג.ד.ל (g.d.l) root meaning large, means to enlarge something, such as a picture using paint.net. להגדיל is a “causative” הפעיל (heef-EEL) verb.
Eliyahu is in good company. In fact, the very Book of Esther that Jews around the world will be reading tomorrow night and Sunday night in Jerusalem uses לְגַדֵּל to mean something to the effect of to enlarge, when King Ahasuerus promotes Haman to be the royal vizier of Persia (Esther 3:1).
This week has been one of mixed emotion in Israel – one the one hand, strong feelings of grief and anger after the murders of a family last week, and on the other hand, feelings of excitement and joy with Purim spirit in the air.
Going from agony to joy (Esther 9:22) is what this time of year is about… as well as other times on the Jewish calendar. This particular time of year has the added element of the existential danger that has threatened the people of Israel throughout our history… as well as the salvation that has repeatedly come.
Here’s a song that fleshes out the hope of salvation. This one also comes to us from The Idan Raichel Project: מִנְעִי קוֹלֵך מִבֶּכִי (meen-EE koh-LEKH mee-BEH-khee) – Restrain Your Voice from Weeping. Check it out.
שבת שלום, סוף שבוע נעים, ופורים שמח לכולם!
Shabbat Shalom, pleasant weekend and happy Purim to all!
