Article
In Biblical Hebrew, the Imperative form is used to express positive commands or instructions directed to another person(s). Thus, Imperative verbs always appear only in the second person. (Similarly, Cohortative verbs appear only in the first person, and Jussive verbs usually appear in the third person.) Imperative verbs can express actions with varying degrees of desirability, including instructions, requests, permissions, invitations, assurances, wishes, etc. The context must determine the nuanced meaning of each instance of an Imperative verb.
Biblical Hebrew does not use the Imperative form to express negative commands. Rather, prohibitions are expressed either with the Imperfect (with particle negative-lo) or with a Jussive verb in the 2nd person (with particle negative-al). Occasionally, the Imperative form will appear with a paragogic ה suffix; in these cases, the meaning of the ה suffix is unknown but probably functions to strengthen the force of the verb in some way.
