Summary

Relative particles introduce clauses or phrases that usually describe nouns but can also sometimes describe adjectives and/or verbs. In English, relative particles are usually translated as “who,” “that,” “which,” "when," or "where."

Article

Biblical Hebrew utilizes three different particles that introduce relative clauses or phrases. The particle אֲשֶׁר and the prefix -שֶׁ function as synonyms: they usually immediately follow nouns and sometimes adjectives. When functioning as a relative particle, the word כִּי usually immediately follows a verb of seeing or perceiving.

אֲשֶׁר

אֲשֶׁר follows a noun and introduces a relative clause. Its translation depends on the noun. For example, if the noun is a place, אֲשֶׁר means “where,” if the noun is a person, it means “who”, and if the noun is an object, it means “that”, “what” or “which.”

Sometimes there is no noun as an antecedent.

-שֶׁ

-שֶׁ has the same function as אֲשֶׁר, but is a prefix. It also doubles the next consonant and follows similar rules regarding the vowel patterns as the definite article.

כִּי

Biblical Hebrew uses the particle כִּי to introduce relative clauses or phrases that describe something that is seen, known, or somehow perceived by a person. Therefore, כִּי usually follows verbs of seeing/perceiving where a reader might expect to find אֲשֶׁר. In English, it is usually translated as “that” in these cases.