Cohortative אֶקְטְלָה ’eqtelah
The cohortative is the wish or resolve that “I” and “we” speak to ourselves: “Come, let us make bricks” (נִלְבְּנָה, Gen 11:3), “Let me go down and see” (אֵרֲדָה, Gen 18:21). It is formed simply: add ָה (a) to the end of a first-person imperfect (אֶ I · נִ we). The vowel before it then shrinks. This page colors the prefix and the final ָה and shows them one by one in words from Genesis.
the “let me kill” form of the model קטל. Western grammars of Biblical Hebrew name it by this model form; Hebrew grammar also calls it the “lengthened imperfect” (עתיד מוארך).
Colour key blue = added at the front · orange = added at the end · purple = a mark inside (dot · doubled letter · changed vowel) · underline = the word this page is about
1What the cohortative is
It is the first-person member of the three forms of wish and command: the cohortative for “I · we” (“let us · I will”), the imperative for “you” (“do!”), the jussive for “he” (“let him”). Together they are called “volitives.”
Words analyzed by OSHB as cohortatives number 576 in the Old Testament, 70 in Genesis. Verbs that cannot take the ָה ending, such as final-ה verbs, show the sense only by context, so actual “let us” is more frequent than that (see “Pitfalls”).
The English name comes from Latin cohortari, “to encourage one another, to urge.”
2At a glance — how to recognize the cohortative
- (1) Prefix א or נאֶ (I) · נִ (we) — the first-person imperfect prefixes.
- (2) ָה at the endה at the end, with ָ (a) on the letter before it — נִלְבְּנָה (11:3).
- (3) The vowel before it shrinks to shevaThe ֹ (o) of אֶקְטֹל (eqtol) becomes sheva in אֶקְטְלָה (eqtelah), because the ending ָה takes the stress.
- (4) Words often with itהָבָה (come, 11:3 · 4 · 7), נָא (please, now, 18:21), a preceding imperative (23:4 תְּנוּ give → וְאֶקְבְּרָה that I may bury).
3Paradigm — Qal imperfect and cohortative
The first-person imperfect and cohortative of the model קטל. Blue the prefix, orange the final ה, purple the place of the reduced vowel.
| Who | Imperfect (will) | Cohortative (let …) | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | אֶקְטֹל ’eqtol | אֶקְטְלָה | ’eqtelah |
| we | נִקְטֹל niqtol | נִקְטְלָה | niqtelah |
| and I | וְאֶקְטֹל | וְאֶקְטְלָה | we’eqtelah |
| and we | וְנִקְטֹל | וְנִקְטְלָה | weniqtelah |
The cohortative exists only in the first person; “you” uses the imperative and “he” the jussive. The same ָה sometimes appears on an imperative too — 11:3 הָבָה (come — the imperative of יָהַב “give” with ָה added).
4Real examples from the Bible — “let us …”
All are words in Genesis that OSHB analyzes as cohortatives. Look for the blue prefix and the orange final ה.
nilbenah — let us make bricks
נִ (we) + the root ל-ב-ן (make bricks) + ה. The imperfect would be נִלְבֹּן (nilbon, “we will make bricks”); with ָה added, the ֹ shrinks to sheva. With הָבָה (come) before it: “Come, let us make bricks.”
YLVAnd they said, each man (ish) to his neighbor, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And the brick was to them for stone, and the bitumen was to them for mortar.
we’eqberah — that I may bury
וְ (and) + אֶ (I) + the root ק-ב-ר (bury) + ה. A strong verb exactly like the model אֶקְטְלָה. After the imperative תְּנוּ (give), it means “give me … that I may bury” — purpose.
YLV"I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me a possession of a burying-place among you, that I may bury my dead from before me."
’eredah — let me go down
אֵ (I) + רֲד (the second and third letters of י-ר-ד go down) + ה. This verb loses its first letter י, so the prefix vowel is ֵ (e). Under ר a hateph patah (ֲ) is written instead of sheva. Followed by נָא (now): “let me go down now” — YHWH’s resolve.
YLVlet me go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to its cry which has come to me; and if not, I will know."
neredah — let us go down
The “we” form of the same root י-ר-ד: נֵ + רְד + ה. With the same הָבָה + cohortative that the builders used (“come, let us make bricks … build,” 11:3–4), YHWH now says, “Come, let us go down.”
YLVCome, let us go down, and confound there their language, that they may not understand, each man (ish) the language of his neighbor."
nelekhah — we will go
נֵ + לְכ (the root ה-ל-ך go) + ה. In the imperfect this verb drops its first letter ה and, like י-ר-ד, has the prefix vowel ֵ. Abraham’s resolve: “I and the lad will go yonder.”
YLVAnd Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and return to you."
wenashuvah — and we will return
וְ + נָ (we) + שׁוּב (the root שׁ-ו-ב return) + ה. In a hollow verb the long vowel וּ (u) does not reduce; it stays. In the same verse “we will go … and return” follow as cohortatives.
YLVAnd Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and return to you."
5Why the vowel before it shrinks to sheva
- 1. The starting shapeThe imperfect “I” אֶקְטֹל (eq-tol) has the stress on the last syllable, “tol.”
- 2. Add ָהAdding ָה (a) makes ל and ָה one syllable (“lah”), and the stress moves to it.
- 3. The vowel just before the stress reducesThe ֹ (o) of the open syllable just before the stress shrinks to sheva: אֶקְטְלָה (eqtelah). It is the same reason the perfect “she” קָטְלָה reduces.
- 4. When it does not reduceLong vowels וּ ִי do not reduce — וְנָשׁוּבָה (22:5, a hollow verb) · וְאַשְׂמְאִילָה (13:9, Hiphil, “I will go to the left”). At a pause the vowel also stays: 18:30 וַאֲדַבֵּרָה and 18:32 וַאֲדַבְּרָה are the same word, and the first keeps its ֵ.
6What the cohortative does — “let us” · “I will” · “let me”
(1) “Let us …” — urging together: הָבָה נִלְבְּנָה (come, let us make bricks, 11:3) · הָבָה נִבְנֶה … וְנַעֲשֶׂה (come, let us build … and make a name, 11:4) · הָבָה נֵרְדָה (come, let us go down, 11:7).
(2) “I will …” — one’s own resolve: אֵרֲדָה־נָּא (let me go down now, 18:21) · נֵלְכָה … וְנָשׁוּבָה (we will go … and return, 22:5).
(3) “Let me …” — asking permission: אִמָּלְטָה נָּא (let me escape there, 19:20).
(4) וְ + cohortative after a command = “so that I may” (purpose): 23:4 תְּנוּ … וְאֶקְבְּרָה (give me … that I may bury). The purpose of the giving is the burying.
7Cohortatives in other stems and weak verbs
Whatever the stem, “first-person prefix + final ָה” is the same. Final-ה verbs cannot take ָה, so they look like the imperfect.
’immaletah — let me escape
Niphal cohortative: אִ (I) + מָּ (a dot in the first root letter מ = the merged Niphal נ) + לְט + ה. The root מ-ל-ט (escape). The ֵ of the Niphal imperfect אִמָּלֵט has shrunk to sheva. Lot asks, “let me escape there.”
YLVBehold now, this city is near to flee there, and it is a little one; let me escape there — is it not a little one? — and my soul (nephesh) shall live."
wa’adabberah — and I will speak
Piel cohortative: וַאֲ (and I) + דַ + בְּ (the doubled middle letter of the Piel) + רָה. The root ד-ב-ר (speak). It begins with וַ but is not a wayyiqtol: the conjunction became וַ before the hateph patah (ֲ) of א, and the cohortative ָה is at the end.
YLVAnd he said, "Let not my Lord (Adonai) be angry, and I will speak only this once. Perhaps ten will be found there." And he said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten."
nivneh — let us build
The root ב-נ-ה (build) ends in ה, so the cohortative ָה cannot be added. Its form is the same as the imperfect נִבְנֶה (we will build). OSHB analyzes it as a cohortative from הָבָה (come) and the context. וְנַעֲשֶׂה (let us make a name) in the same verse is the same.
YLVAnd they said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower, and its top in the heavens; and let us make for ourselves a name, lest we be scattered upon the face of all the earth."
8Easy to confuse
Not every final ָה is a cohortative. (1) The perfect “she” קָטְלָה (no prefix). (2) The directional ה (אַרְצָה to the land — on a noun). (3) The ָה of a first-person wayyiqtol: 41:11 וַנַּחַלְמָה (and we dreamed) has וַ + a dotted נּ, so it is a past. A cohortative is a first-person prefix (א נ) + final ָה, without וַ + dot.
“Let us” can appear without ָה. Final-ה verbs cannot take it. OSHB analyzes 1:26 נַעֲשֶׂה (“let us make”) as an imperfect, while YLV renders “Let us make”; 11:4 נִבְנֶה וְנַעֲשֶׂה, the same kind of form, are analyzed as cohortatives. When the forms are identical, the context decides.
וַאֲ may not be a wayyiqtol. As in 18:30 וַאֲדַבֵּרָה (and I will speak), the ordinary “and” becomes וַ before the hateph patah of א. A first-person wayyiqtol has וָאֶ · וָא (qamets) — 3:10 וָאִירָא.