The Words That Carry a Whole Phrase

When Prepositions Carry Pronouns

In English, “before me” is two words. In Exodus 10:3, Hebrew says מִפָּנַי (mippanai) — one word. The preposition and the pronoun have fused together.

This is not a quirk of one verse. It happens thousands of times in the Hebrew Bible. Every time the text says “with him,” “to me,” “from them,” “upon us,” or “over you,” Hebrew collapses the preposition and pronoun into a single word. Two English words become one.

In Lesson 10 we learned that prepositions like בְּ, כְּ, לְ, and מִ attach to nouns as prefixes. Now we take the next step: what happens when the preposition needs to carry a pronoun instead of a noun? The pronoun attaches to the back of the preposition as a suffix — the same kind of suffix that marks person, gender, and number on verbs.

These are called pronominal suffixes on prepositions, and once you recognize them, the text opens up dramatically.

The Suffix System at a Glance

Hebrew uses a consistent set of pronoun suffixes. The exact vowels shift slightly depending on the preposition, but the consonant skeleton is recognizable across all of them. Here they are arranged with singulars on the left, plurals on the right:

Don’t memorize this chart in isolation. Instead, watch these patterns come alive as we walk through each preposition below — with examples from this week’s reading in Exodus 7–13.

לְ (le-) — to / for

The preposition לְ (le-, “to” or “for”) is one of the most common words in the entire Hebrew Bible. In Lesson 10 you met it as an inseparable prefix: לַמֶּלֶךְ (“to the king”), לְיִשְׂרָאֵל (“for Israel”). When a pronoun replaces the noun, the suffix attaches directly:

אֵת / עִם — with

Hebrew has two prepositions meaning “with”: אֵת (et) and עִם (im). Both take pronominal suffixes, and עִם appears at a crucial moment in the plagues narrative.

The Rest of the Family: אֶל, עַל, בְּ, מִן

Four more prepositions take pronominal suffixes in exactly the same way.

אֶל (el-) — to / toward

אֶל (el-, “to, toward”) is distinct from לְ (le-). The difference is subtle: לְ tends toward purpose (“for him”), while אֶל tends toward direction (“toward him”).

Throughout the plagues narrative, God repeatedly sends Moses אֶל־פַּרְעֹה — “to Pharaoh” (Exodus 7:15, 8:1, 9:1, 10:1). The preposition אֶל carries direction — Moses moves toward Pharaoh again and again.

עַל (al-) — on / upon / over

עַל (al-, “on, upon, over”) has remarkable range — physical (“upon the altar”), relational (“over his brothers”), or protective (“over you”).

In Exodus 12:13, God declares: וּפָסַחְתִּי עֲלֵכֶם — “I will pass over you.” The word עֲלֵכֶם (aleikhem) is עַל + the 2mp suffix: “over-you-all.” The same preposition that could mean judgment pressing down here means protection hovering over.

בְּ (be-) — in / with / by

בְּ (be-, “in, with, by”) is one of the three inseparable prepositions from Lesson 10.

In Exodus 7:17, Moses announces the first plague: בַּמַּטֶּה אֲשֶׁר־בְּיָדִי — “with the rod that is in my hand.” The word בְּיָדִי (beyadi) is בְּ (“in”) + יָד (yad, “hand”) + the 1cs suffix: “in-my-hand.”

מִן (min-) — from / out of

מִן (min-, “from, out of”) behaves distinctively. The נ (nun) assimilates and the suffix attaches to מִמּ-:

In Exodus 10:28, after the plague of darkness, Pharaoh reaches his breaking point: לֵךְ מֵעָלָי הִשָּׁמֶר לְךָ — “Get thee from me; take heed to thyself.” Two prepositions with suffixes in one command: מֵעָלָי (me’alai) — “from-upon-me” — and לְךָ (lekha) — “to you.” Pharaoh uses prepositions to push Moses away. But the same grammar will carry a very different message in the Passover verse.

“I Will Pass Over You” — Exodus 12:13

Everything we have studied in this lesson converges in the defining verse of the Passover. Exodus 12:13 carries the grammar of deliverance — and it does it with prepositions:

Three prepositions carry the theology of this verse:

• לָכֶם (lakhem) — the preposition לְ (“to/for”) fused with the 2mp suffix. One word: “to-you-all.” The blood belongs to Israel as covenant sign.

• עַל הַבָּתִּים — “upon the houses.” Here the preposition takes a noun. But it sets up the parallel…

• עֲלֵכֶם (aleikhem) — the preposition עַל (“upon/over”) fused with the 2mp suffix. One word: “over-you-all.” The same preposition that could press down in judgment here hovers over in protection.

Now set this beside the sacrament prayers. In D&C 20:77, we hear: “that they may… always have his Spirit to be with them.” The Hebrew would be עִמָּם (immam) — “with-them.” Week after week, the Passover grammar continues. We partake; the blood is לָנוּ (lanu) — “for us.” The Spirit hovers עָלֵינוּ (aleinu) — “over us.” Prepositions carry covenant.

What Comes Next

You now have the tools to recognize one of the most common patterns in the Hebrew Bible: a preposition fused with a pronoun into a single word. Every time you see עֲלֵכֶם, אִתּוֹ, לוֹ, בּוֹ, or מִפָּנַי, you can decode who is involved and what the relationship is — without a dictionary.

Here is where we stand on the journey:

1. ✅ Person, Gender, Number
2. ✅ Prefixes and Particles
3. ✅ Prepositions with Pronouns ← You are here!
4. ⬜ The Qatal (Suffix Conjugation)
5. ⬜ The Yiqtol (Prefix Conjugation)
6. ⬜ The Binyanim

Next we turn to the verb system itself. We have seen how Hebrew marks who is acting (PGN), how prefixes and suffixes attach to verbs, and now how prepositions carry pronouns. The next step is to learn the two main verb conjugations: the Qatal (perfect/suffix conjugation) — the form that describes completed actions — and the Yiqtol (imperfect/prefix conjugation) — the form that describes ongoing, incomplete, or future actions. Together, they are the engine of every Hebrew narrative.