Article
Biblical Hebrew has four main prepositions: the prefix בְּ (in, at, by); the prefix לְ (to, for); the prefix כְּ (as, like); and the prefix מִ (which is a shortened form of the independent preposition מִן, meaning "from"). However, there is also a family of other prepositions in Biblical Hebrew. It is common in Biblical Hebrew for prepositions to be combined together or with a noun to form new words that have their own range of meanings (similar to compound conjunctions) that may or may not overlap with the meaning of the individual component terms.
In Biblical Hebrew, prepositions also have a specialized function of describing the relationship between a verbal complement (infinitive construct or participles) and the main verb of a sentence. In some of these instances, the preposition introduces a dependent verbal clauses and thus changes its typical meaning. These specialized uses of prepositions are listed in the article on infinitive construct verbs.
Note
Of all the different kinds of words, prepositions are perhaps the most flexible in their meaning and are often translated in a variety of ways, or sometimes even left untranslated. For this reason, prepositions must always be translated with great sensitivity to the context of each use. A dictionary or lexicon will describe the various possible meanings of each preposition, but generally will not include a complete list of individual usages.
In Biblical Hebrew, there are 11 general types of prepositions: indirect object; spatial; locative; temporal; instrumental; correlative; comparative; directional; causal; explanatory; and direct object. However, this are also other types of prepositions in Biblical Hebrew. The specific meanings of individual prepositions can be found in a dictionary or lexicon.
