Relative אֲשֶׁר ’asher
The relative אֲשֶׁר (asher) joins a clause to a noun so that it describes the noun — “the man whom he had formed.” Because אֲשֶׁר never changes, the noun’s role inside the clause is shown by a resumptive word (בּוֹ in it · שָׁם there) or by an empty slot. This page shows how to read it, centered on the 16 occurrences of אֲשֶׁר in Genesis 1–2.
the word itself is the name; it never changes form
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 relative אֲשֶׁר is
A relative joins a clause to a noun so that the clause describes the noun — English who, which, that. Biblical Hebrew almost always uses one word for it: אֲשֶׁר (asher).
אֲשֶׁר never changes. Whether the noun is masculine or feminine, singular or plural, subject or object inside the clause, it is always אֲשֶׁר. So the role of the noun in the clause is learned by reading the clause.
Counted in the OSHB morphology, אֲשֶׁר standing alone occurs 4,809 times in the Old Testament; with forms like כַּאֲשֶׁר and the short שֶׁ, 5,660 Hebrew words are analyzed as relatives.
2The name — אֲשֶׁר asher
The word itself serves as the name — אֲשֶׁר (asher). English grammars call it the relative particle (a small word that never changes form) or relative pronoun.
The short form שֶׁ (she-) appears mostly in later books (Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs) and in songs like Judges 5.
3At a glance — how to read a relative clause
- 1. Noun + אֲשֶׁרWhen אֲשֶׁר follows a noun, what comes next describes that noun — הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר יָצָר “the man whom he had formed” (2:8).
- 2. The clause is a full sentenceA verbal or verbless clause follows אֲשֶׁר — אֲשֶׁר מִתַּחַת לָרָקִיעַ “which (were) under the firmament” (1:7).
- 3. Look for a resumptive wordIf the clause has a word pointing back to the noun, such as וֹ or שָׁם, that is the noun’s place — אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ־בוֹ “in it” (1:11).
- 4. The empty slotWith no resumptive word, usually the object (or subject) slot is empty — אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה “which he had made” (2:2).
- 5. With no noun before itIt means “that which,” as in כָּל־אֲשֶׁר “all that” (1:31). With a preposition it becomes a conjunction — כַּאֲשֶׁר “as.”
4Relative-clause patterns — what role the noun has inside the clause
All are actual phrases from Genesis. The colored part is the word pointing back to the noun.
| Role of the noun | Biblical phrase | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| subject (no verb) | הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר מִתַּחַת לָרָקִיעַ (1:7) | hammayim asher mittaḥat laraqia‘ | the waters which were under the firmament |
| object (empty slot) | הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר יָצָר (2:8) | ha’adam asher yatsar | the man whom he had formed |
| “in it” | עֵץ … אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ־בוֹ (1:11) | ‘ets … asher zar‘o vo | a tree whose seed is in it |
| “from it” | הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר … מִמֶּנּוּ (3:11) | ha‘ets asher … mimmennu | the tree which … (not to eat) from it |
| “to it” | כֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָא־לוֹ (2:19) | kol asher yiqra lo | whatever (he) called it |
| “there” | אֲשֶׁר־שָׁם הַזָּהָב (2:11) | asher sham hazzahav | where the gold is |
| “thither” | הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר נָבוֹא שָׁמָּה (20:13) | hammaqom asher navo shammah | the place where we come |
אֲשֶׁר never changed form. Only the resumptive word inside the clause changes.
5Relative clauses with no resumptive — real examples from the Bible
אֲשֶׁר occurs 16 times in Genesis 1–2. Here the object slot is empty or the clause is verbless.
asher — which (were under the firmament)
הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר מִתַּחַת לָרָקִיעַ “the waters which (were) under the firmament.” No verb follows אֲשֶׁר — only “under the firmament”; “were” is supplied in English. A relative clause can be verbless. The verse has the pattern twice (the waters below · above).
YLVAnd God made the firmament, and divided between the waters which were under the firmament and the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
asher — whom (he had formed)
אֶת־הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר יָצָר “the man whom he had formed.” Inside the clause יָצָר (he formed), “the man” is the object, yet no “him” is written — the object slot is often left empty. אֲשֶׁר has one form for every gender and number.
YLVAnd YHWH God planted a garden in Eden, from the east, and there he put Adam whom he had formed.
asher — which (he had taken)
אֶת־הַצֵּלָע אֲשֶׁר־לָקַח מִן־הָאָדָם “the rib which he had taken from the man.” As in 2:8 the object slot is empty. Hebrew attaches the clause after the noun with אֲשֶׁר.
YLVAnd YHWH God built the rib which he had taken from Adam into a woman (ishah), and brought her to Adam.
asher — with which (the waters swarmed)
נֶפֶשׁ הַחַיָּה הָרֹמֶשֶׂת אֲשֶׁר שָׁרְצוּ הַמַּיִם. The subject of the clause is הַמַּיִם (the waters), and the verb שָׁרְצוּ (swarmed) is plural. The “living soul” is not the subject inside the clause but the thing the waters swarmed with. אֲשֶׁר itself does not say what role the noun has in the clause; you learn it by reading the clause.
YLVAnd God created the great sea-creatures (tannin), and every living soul (nephesh) that creeps, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
6Relative clauses with a resumptive word — real examples from the Bible
Look inside the clause for the word that points back to the noun (בּוֹ מִמֶּנּוּ שָׁם שָׁמָּה).
asher — in which (is its seed)
עֵץ פְּרִי … אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ־בוֹ “fruit tree … in which is its seed.” The וֹ of בוֹ (in it) inside the clause points back to “tree” — a resumptive pronoun. The וֹ of זַרְעוֹ (its) also refers to the tree: “tree — its seed in it” = “a tree whose seed is in it.”
YLVAnd God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, herb yielding seed, fruit tree making fruit after its kind, in which is its seed, upon the earth"; and it was so.
asher — in which (is fruit)
וְאֶת־כָּל־הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר־בּוֹ פְרִי־עֵץ “and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree.” As in 1:11, בּוֹ (in it) points back to the tree. Earlier in the verse אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי כָל־הָאָרֶץ “which is upon the face of all the earth” is a verbless relative clause.
YLVAnd God said, "Behold, I have given to you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food.
asher — which (I commanded you not to eat from it)
הֲמִן־הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִיךָ לְבִלְתִּי אֲכָל־מִמֶּנּוּ אָכָלְתָּ “Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat of it?” מִמֶּנּוּ (from it) at the end of the clause points back to the tree. A slot governed by a preposition needs such a resumptive word.
YLVAnd he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded (tzivvah) you not to eat of it?"
asher — where (the gold is)
אֶרֶץ הַחֲוִילָה אֲשֶׁר־שָׁם הַזָּהָב “the land of Havilah, where there is gold.” Inside the clause שָׁם (there) points back to the land. אֲשֶׁר … שָׁם together mean “where.”
YLVThe name of the first is Pishon; it is the one surrounding all the land of Havilah, where there is gold.
asher — where (we come to)
אֶל כָּל־הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר נָבוֹא שָׁמָּה “at every place where we come.” שָׁמָּה (thither — שָׁם with the directional ה) at the end points back to “place.” Where שָׁם in 2:11 is “where (it is),” שָׁמָּה is “where (one goes).”
YLVAnd it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from the house of my father, that I said to her, 'This is your kindness which you shall do for me: at every place where we come, say of me, He is my brother.'"
7Why a resumptive word is needed
- 1. אֲשֶׁר does not show the roleEnglish who (subject) · whom (object) · whose · in which show the role in the word itself. אֲשֶׁר is always the same and carries no such information.
- 2. So the role is written again insideWhen the noun has a prepositional or place role in the clause (“in it, from it, there”), a pronoun suffix or שָׁם is written in that slot — אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ־בוֹ (1:11).
- 3. Subject and object are usually left emptyThe verb form already shows the subject, and the object is clear from context, so these are often left empty — אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה (2:2).
- 4. In translationThe resumptive need not be translated separately: “a tree whose seed is in it.” But always check what it refers to.
8What אֲשֶׁר does — relative · “that which” · conjunction
(1) Describing a noun — the most common use: מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה “his work which he had made” (2:2) · הָאִשָּׁה אֲשֶׁר נָתַתָּה עִמָּדִי “the woman whom you gave to be with me” (3:12).
(2) “That which,” with no noun — כָּל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה “all that he had made” (1:31) · וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָא־לוֹ “whatever he called it” (2:19).
(3) With a preposition, a conjunction — כַּאֲשֶׁר “as, when” (7:9) · מֵאֲשֶׁר “from where, than” · בַּאֲשֶׁר “where.”
(4) “So that, because” — with no noun to describe, it can introduce purpose, result or cause: אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִשְׁמְעוּ “so that they may not understand” (11:7). The context decides.
9“That which” · conjunctions — real examples from the Bible
asher — that (he had made)
אֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה “all that he had made.” There is no noun before אֲשֶׁר to modify, only כָּל (all). Here אֲשֶׁר works like a noun: “that which.”
YLVAnd God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
asher — whatever (Adam called it)
וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָא־לוֹ הָאָדָם … הוּא שְׁמוֹ “and whatever Adam called it … that was its name.” כֹל אֲשֶׁר (all that) has no head noun, and לוֹ (to it) in the clause points back to that “whatever.”
YLVAnd YHWH God formed out of the ground (adamah) every living thing (chai) of the field and every bird of the heavens, and brought it to Adam to see what he would call it; and whatever Adam called it, the living soul (nephesh), that was its name.
ka’asher — as
The preposition כְּ (like) + אֲשֶׁר. כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֱלֹהִים אֶת־נֹחַ “as God commanded Noah.” Together they form a conjunction, “as, when.” Before the guttural א the sheva of כְּ becomes כַּ (a). It occurs 41 times in Genesis (counted in OSHB).
YLVtwo two they came to Noah into the ark, male and female, as God commanded (tzivvah) Noah.
asher — so that
וְנָבְלָה שָׁם שְׂפָתָם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִשְׁמְעוּ אִישׁ שְׂפַת רֵעֵהוּ “and confound their language there, so that they may not understand ….” Here אֲשֶׁר does not modify a noun; it introduces purpose or result. The context decides the sense.
YLVCome, let us go down, and confound there their language, that they may not understand, each man (ish) the language of his neighbor."
10The short relative שֶׁ — it doubles the next letter like the article
The short form שֶׁ (she-), meaning the same as אֲשֶׁר, never stands alone; it is prefixed to the next word. Its vowel is usually שֶׁ (e), and it doubles the next letter with a dot (dagesh). In Judges 5:7 שַׁקַּמְתִּי (shaqqamti) it has שַׁ (a) and a dot in ק.
Before a guttural (א ה ח ע ר), which cannot be doubled, the vowel lengthens — שָׁאַתָּה (Judges 6:17). This is the same rule as the article הַ becoming הָ before א.
11The short relative — real examples from the Bible
Genesis has almost no short relatives, so these come from Judges.
shaqqamti — (until) I arose
The short relative שֶׁ attached to the verb קַמְתִּי (I arose). עַד שַׁקַּמְתִּי דְּבוֹרָה “until I arose, Deborah.” After שַׁ the first letter ק takes a dot and is doubled — like the article, the short relative doubles the next letter. It occurs twice in the verse.
YLVThe villagers ceased in Israel, they ceased, until I arose, Deborah, until I arose, a mother in Israel.
sha’attah — that you (are the one)
The short relative + אַתָּה (you). אוֹת שָׁאַתָּה מְדַבֵּר עִמִּי “a sign that it is you who speak with me.” The next letter א is a guttural and cannot be doubled, so the vowel lengthens to שָׁ — just as the article becomes הָ before א.
YLVAnd he said to him, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, then do for me a sign (ot) that it is you who speak with me.
12Easy to confuse
אֲשֶׁר and כִּי. Both may be rendered “that” or “because,” but the basic job of אֲשֶׁר is to describe a noun, while כִּי introduces “because / that” clauses (see the כִּי page).
אֲשֶׁר is not “of.” “Of” is the job of the construct (סֵפֶר תּוֹלְדֹת אָדָם “the book of the generations of Adam,” 5:1). A clause always follows אֲשֶׁר.
Do not translate the resumptive twice. 3:11 is not “the tree which I commanded you not to eat from it” in good English but “the tree from which I commanded you not to eat.” Still, know what it refers to (the tree).
שֶׁ and the article. The short relative doubles the next letter like the article, but the article is ה and the relative ש.
13Where this appears in Genesis 1–2
All 16 places, found from the OSHB morphology. Tap one to go to that word’s notes.