Niphal נִפְעַל nif‘al
The Niphal is one of the seven stems of the Hebrew verb. It adds “be …ed” (passive) or “do to oneself” (reflexive) to a root. It has a single mark, the letter נ (nun). In some forms that נ stands in front; in others it merges and remains only as a dot (dagesh). This page shows both, one by one, in words actually used in the Bible.
the sound of the model verb פָּעַל (do) with the Niphal mark נִ in front.
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 Niphal is
A Hebrew verb builds kinds of meaning by changing the letters and vowels around a three-letter root. Each kind is a stem (Hebrew בִּנְיָן binyan, “building”). The Niphal is the fourth most common stem, after the Qal, Hiphil and Piel — 4,161 times in the Old Testament (counted from the OSHB morphology).
It adds three kinds of meaning. (1) Passive — “be …ed” (2:23 יִקָּרֵא “shall be called”). (2) Reflexive / middle — “do to oneself, become” (1:9 יִקָּווּ “let … be gathered” — the waters gather; no one gathers them). (3) Verbs used only in the Niphal, with no Qal (6:6 וַיִּנָּחֶם “and he regretted”).
2Where the name comes from — נִפְעַל nif‘al
Stem names take the verb פָּעַל (pa‘al, “do, make”) as a model and use the sound of that verb in the stem as the name.
Add the Niphal mark נ to פָּעַל and you get נִפְעַל (nif‘al), which became “Niphal.” The name itself carries the Niphal mark נ.
3At a glance — three marks of the Niphal
- Perfect · participle · infinitive absoluteנִ (ni) stands at the very front — נִבְקְעוּ (Gen 7:11).
- Imperfect · wayyiqtolNo נ is seen; a dot (dagesh) sits in the first root letter — יִקָּרֵא (Gen 2:23). It marks where the נ merged.
- Imperative · infinitive constructהִ (hi) in front and a dot in the first letter — הִפָּרֶד (Gen 13:9).
4The perfect — נִ in front
The Niphal perfect of the model verb קטל (kill): “… was killed.” נִ is added before the Qal perfect קָטַל (qatal), and the first vowel shrinks to a sheva. “Who” is shown at the end, as in the Qal.
| Who | Niphal perfect | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| he (3ms) | נִקְטַל | niqtal | he was killed |
| she (3fs) | נִקְטְלָה | niqtelah | she was killed |
| you (2ms) | נִקְטַלְתָּ | niqtalta | you (m) were killed |
| you (2fs) | נִקְטַלְתְּ | niqtalt | you (f) were killed |
| I (1cs) | נִקְטַלְתִּי | niqtalti | I was killed |
| they (3cp) | נִקְטְלוּ | niqtelu | they were killed |
| you (2mp) | נִקְטַלְתֶּם | niqtaltem | you (m pl) were killed |
| you (2fp) | נִקְטַלְתֶּן | niqtalten | you (f pl) were killed |
| we (1cp) | נִקְטַלְנוּ | niqtalnu | we were killed |
The endings (ָה she · תָּ you · תִּי I · וּ they · נוּ we …) are exactly those of the Qal perfect. The Niphal adds only the נִ in front.
5The perfect — real examples from the Bible
All are Niphal perfects in Genesis. Look for the נִ at the front.
nivqe‘u — (they) were broken open
נִ (the Niphal mark) + the root ב-ק-ע (split) + וּ (they). Qal בָּקַע is “split”; the Niphal is “be split, burst open.” It does not say who split them, only that the springs burst.
YLVIn the year of six hundred years of Noah's life (chai), in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the fountains of the great deep were broken open, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
niftaḥu — (they) were opened
נִ + the root פ-ת-ח (open) + וּ (they). Two Niphal perfects stand side by side in one verse — “were broken open … were opened,” both passive.
YLVIn the year of six hundred years of Noah's life (chai), in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the fountains of the great deep were broken open, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
nishḥatah — it (she) was corrupt
נִ + the root שׁ-ח-ת (ruin) + ָה (she). The subject “the earth” (הָאָרֶץ) is feminine, so the form is “she.” The Niphal of “ruin” is “be ruined, be corrupt.”
YLVAnd God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh (basar) had corrupted its way upon the earth.
niḥamti — I regret
נִ + the root נ-ח-ם + תִּי (I). This verb is not used in the Qal; it appears in the Niphal (“regret, relent”) and the Piel (“comfort”). A Niphal is not always “be …ed.” The middle letter ח is a guttural, so it takes ַ (a).
YLVAnd YHWH said, "I will blot out man (adam) whom I created from upon the face of the ground (adamah), from man (adam) to beast, to creeping thing, and to bird of the heavens; for I am sorry that I made them."
6Why the נ disappears in the imperfect and a dot appears
- 1. The starting shapeThe imperfect shows “who” by a prefix letter (י he). Add the Niphal נ after it and the starting shape is יִנְקָטֵל (yin-qatel).
- 2. The נ has no vowelThis נ has no vowel and closes the syllable right before ק.
- 3. The נ merges into the next letterA closing נ assimilates to the next sound and becomes the same sound, so “yin-qatel” becomes “yiq-qatel.”
- 4. A doubled letter = a dotHebrew writes a doubled letter once, with a dot (dagesh) inside → יִקָּטֵל (yiqqatel). The dot is the trace of the merged נ.
7The imperfect — a dot in the first letter
The Niphal imperfect of קטל (“… will be killed”). After the prefix (י ת א נ), the first root letter ק has a dot, and the second vowel is “e” (ֵ).
| Who | Niphal imperfect | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| he | יִקָּטֵל | yiqqatel |
| she · you (m) | תִּקָּטֵל | tiqqatel |
| you (f) | תִּקָּטְלִי | tiqqateli |
| I | אֶקָּטֵל | ’eqqatel |
| they (m) | יִקָּטְלוּ | yiqqatelu |
| they (f) · you (f pl) | תִּקָּטַלְנָה | tiqqatalnah |
| you (m pl) | תִּקָּטְלוּ | tiqqatelu |
| we | נִקָּטֵל | niqqatel |
The נִ of “we” is the first-person-plural prefix, not the Niphal נ. The Niphal is known by the dot in the first root letter.
8Imperfect · wayyiqtol — real examples from the Bible
Look for the dot in the first root letter. The wayyiqtol (“and he did”) has the dot in the same place as the imperfect.
yiqqare — (it) shall be called
יִ (he) + קָּ (a dot in the first root letter ק = the merged נ) + רֵא. The root ק-ר-א “call” in the Niphal → “be called.” The Qal imperfect would be יִקְרָא (yiqra, he will call), with no dot.
YLVAnd Adam said, "This now is bone of my bones and flesh (basar) of my flesh (basar); for this one it shall be called Woman (ishah), because from Man (ish) this one was taken."
yippared — it would divide
יִ (it) + פָּ (a dot in the first letter פ) + רֵד. The root פ-ר-ד “divide” in the Niphal → “divide itself, branch.” The river branches by itself — a reflexive sense.
YLVAnd a river was going out from Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four heads.
yiqqavu — let (them) be gathered
יִ (prefix) + קָּ (a dot in the first letter) + the root ק-ו-ה “gather” (final ה dropped) + וּ (plural). Prefix and ending together mean “they.” The waters gather themselves — a reflexive sense.
YLVAnd God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.
vattimmale — and it (she) was filled
Wayyiqtol וַ (and) + תִּ (she) + מָּ (a dot in the first root letter מ) + לֵא. The root מ-ל-א “fill” in the Niphal → “be filled.” The subject “the earth” is feminine, so ת “she.”
YLVAnd the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
9Imperative · infinitives · participle
The imperative and infinitive construct put הִ in front and a dot in the first letter (ה supporting the merged נ). The participle, and one form of the infinitive absolute, show נִ in front like the perfect.
| Form | Model קטל | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| imperative (2ms) | הִקָּטֵל | hiqqatel | be killed |
| infinitive construct | הִקָּטֵל | hiqqatel | being killed |
| infinitive absolute | נִקְטֹל · הִקָּטֹל | niqtol · hiqqatol | (emphatic) being killed |
| participle (ms) | נִקְטָל | niqtal | (one) killed |
| participle (fs) | נִקְטָלָה | niqtalah | (she / it) killed |
| participle (mp) | נִקְטָלִים | niqtalim | (those) killed |
10Imperative · infinitive · participle — real examples from the Bible
hippared — separate (yourself)
Imperative: הִ (prefix) + פָּ (a dot in the first letter) + רֶד. The same root פ-ר-ד as יִפָּרֵד in 2:10, in the Niphal: Abram tells Lot, “separate yourself from me.”
YLVIs not all the land before you? Separate yourself, I pray, from me. If to the left, then I will go to the right; and if to the right, then I will go to the left."
behibbare’am — when they were created
בְּ (when) + the infinitive construct הִבָּרְא (being created — הִ + a dot in the first letter ב) + ָם (their). The Niphal of the same root as בָּרָא in 1:1, so “be created.”
YLVThese are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that YHWH God made earth and heavens.
neḥmad — pleasant, desirable
Participle: the נ shows in front, but with נֶ (ne), not נִ (ni) — the first root letter ח is a guttural, which changes the vowel before it (see below). The Niphal participle of ח-מ-ד “desire” → “desired → pleasant.”
YLVAnd YHWH God made to sprout from the ground (adamah) every tree pleasant to sight and good for food, and the tree of life (chai) in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
11What the Niphal does — passive · reflexive · Niphal-only verbs
(1) Passive “be …ed” — the Qal action seen from the side that receives it: קָרָא (he called) → יִקָּרֵא (it shall be called, 2:23) · בָּרָא (he created) → בְּהִבָּרְאָם (when they were created, 2:4).
(2) Reflexive / middle “do to oneself” — the subject acts on itself: יִקָּווּ (let the waters gather, 1:9) · יִפָּרֵד (the river would branch, 2:10) · וָאֵחָבֵא (and I hid myself, 3:10).
(3) Niphal-only verbs — some verbs have little or no Qal and use the Niphal as their basic meaning: נִחַם (regret, 6:6–7), נִלְחַם (fight). These are not translated as passives.
So when you meet a Niphal, first ask “who received the action, or did the subject do it to itself?” — then check in the lexicon whether the verb is also used in the Qal.
12When the first letter is a guttural — a longer vowel instead of a dot
The gutturals א ה ח ע and ר cannot be doubled, so they cannot take the dot (dagesh). In the imperfect the merged נ cannot be shown by a dot; instead the vowel before it lengthens — ִ (i) becomes ֵ (e).
Example: וָאֵחָבֵא (va’eḥave, Gen 3:10 “and I hid myself”) — the first-person prefix א has ֵ (e), and the first root letter ח has no dot. The Niphal of ח-ב-א “hide” → “hide oneself.”
In the perfect and participle a guttural first letter likewise turns נִ into נֶ — נֶחְמָד (2:9).
13Easy to confuse
A נ in front is not always the Niphal. (1) Verbs whose first root letter is נ (נָתַן give · נָפַל fall). (2) The Qal imperfect “we” prefix (נִקְטֹל niqtol, we will kill). The Niphal perfect נִקְטַל (niqtal) and the Qal imperfect 1cp נִקְטֹל (niqtol) differ only in the second vowel (a · o).
A dot in the imperfect is not always the Niphal. The Piel and Pual put the dot in the middle letter (יְקַדֵּשׁ); the Niphal puts it in the first root letter (יִקָּרֵא). Which letter has the dot is the key.
“Be …ed” is not always right. יִקָּווּ (1:9) fits the text better as “gather (themselves)” than “be gathered” (reflexive), and Niphal-only verbs are not passives.
14Where this appears in Genesis 1–2
All 6 places, found from the OSHB morphology. Tap one to go to that word’s notes.