how to say “rebels” in Hebrew

 

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מוֹרְדִים
 

 

 

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This Ancient- and Modern-Hebrew word first appears in the Biblical story of אַבְרָם    Abram (before he was renamed אַבְרָהָם  Abraham) fighting the four kings:
 
שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה עָבְדוּ אֶת כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר וּשְׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה מָרָדוּ
Twelve years they were slaves to Chedorlaomer, and thirteen years they rebelled.
(בְּרֵאשִׁית יד,ד – Genesis 14:4)
 
 
The word לִמְרוֹד    means to rebel. It’s an active-simple verb of the root מ.ר.ד (m.r.d). Like any proper Hebrew verb, it generates what linguists call participles – the types of verb that can also double as adjectives or adverbs… or even nouns.
למרוד
 
To illustrate, הוּא מוֹרֵד    means he is rebelling. But it also means he is a rebel (this particular participle isn’t used an adjective or adverb).
 
An example in context:
 
אַסַד לֹא אוֹהֵב אֶת הַמּוֹרְדִים.
Assad doesn’t like the rebels.
 
 
A rebellion or revolt is a מֶרֶד   .
 
 
by Ami Steinberger Founder and Director, Ulpan La-Inyan
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