The preposition lamed in Hebrew can take various meanings. It is quite similar in meaning to the dative case in Greek. video
- It can mean direction and is often translated “to” or “towards”.
- It can mean advantage or disadvantage and is translated “for” or “against”.
- Sometimes it is the equivalent of the object marker word.
- It can also refer to the IO of a sentence.
- It can mean possession and is translated “belongs to…” §h
- It is also very commonly used to mark an infinitive construct.
It can also take all the pronominal suffixes as in the table below.
| Pronominal Suffix | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person singular masculine | לי (li) | to me |
| 1st person singular feminine | לי (li) | to me |
| 2nd person singular masculine | לך (lekha) | to you (masculine) |
| 2nd person singular feminine | לך (lekh) | to you (feminine) |
| 3rd person singular masculine | לו (lo) | to him |
| 3rd person singular feminine | לה (la) | to her |
| 1st person plural | לנו (lanu) | to us |
| 2nd person plural masculine | לכם (lekhem) | to you (masculine plural) |
| 2nd person plural feminine | לכן (lakhen) | to you (feminine plural) |
| 3rd person plural masculine | להם (lahem) | to them (masculine) |
| 3rd person plural feminine | להן (lahen) | to them (feminine) |