H0854 H0854
With, together with (accompaniment); from with (ablative source with min-); also functions as the direct object marker in certain textual traditions.
The preposition et (with long tsere, distinct from the homographic direct object marker et with seghol) is Hebrew's primary word for 'with' in the sense of accompaniment — being together with someone, walking with God, dwelling with one's family. It appears in some of the Bible's most intimate theological statements: God 'was with Joseph' (Gen 39:2), 'I am with you' (Gen 26:24), and the promise of Immanuel, 'God with us.' When prefixed with min, it shifts to ablative source meaning 'from the presence of' — blessings rain down 'from with the LORD' (Gen 19:24), and a person departs 'from with' a king. A fascinating textual wrinkle is that in certain later biblical books (especially Joshua through Kings, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel), the suffixed forms of this preposition overlap orthographically with the direct object marker, creating a persistent parsing challenge that translators across languages have navigated differently.
1. with (accompaniment) — Comitative: 'with,' indicating accompaniment, association, or togetherness — the dominant sense at 665 occurrences. Noah entered the ark 'with his sons' (Gen 7:7); God remembered Noah and all the animals 'with him' (Gen 8:1); God established his covenant 'with Noah' (Gen 9:8). Arabic ma'a and Korean 함께 (hamkke, 'together with') are the standard equivalents, while Spanish con and German mit serve as exact functional parallels. This is the relational backbone of the preposition: proximity, partnership, divine presence. 665×
AR["مَعَ-هُ","مَعَهُ"]·ben["-তার-সাথে","তাঁর-সঙ্গে","তাঁর-সাথে","তার-সঙ্গে","তার-সাথে"]·DE["bei-ihm-war","mit-ihm","mit-ihm-waren"]·EN["were-with-him","with-him"]·FR["avec-lui","étaient-avec-lui"]·heb["אתו-ו"]·HI["अपने-साथ","उसके-साथ","उसके-साथ-थे","उससे","उस्के-सथ","उस्के-साथ","उस्से"]·ID["bersamanya","dengan-dia","dengannya","kepadanya"]·IT["con-lui","furono-con-lui"]·jav["kaliyan-piyambakipun","sesarengan","sesarengan-kaliyan-piyambakipun"]·KO["그와","그와-함께","그와-함께한"]·PT["com-ele"]·RU["с-ним"]·ES["con-él"]·SW["kumbe","naye","pamoja-naye","walikuwa-naye"]·TR["onunla","onunlaydı"]·urd["اُس-سے","اُس-کے-ساتھ","اُس-کے-ساتھ-تھے","اپنے-ساتھ","ساتھ-اُس-کے"]
Gen 7:7, Gen 7:23, Gen 8:1, Gen 8:18, Gen 9:8, Gen 12:4, Gen 14:5, Gen 14:17, Gen 17:3, Gen 17:19, Gen 17:22, Gen 17:23 (+38 more)
▼ 4 more senses below
Senses
2. from with (ablative source) — Ablative source with min-prefix: 'from with,' 'from the presence of' — 165 occurrences where me'et indicates origin or departure from someone's vicinity or authority. 'The LORD rained brimstone from with the LORD out of heaven' (Gen 19:24); Esau went out 'from the presence of' Isaac (Gen 27:30); slaves purchased 'from with' foreigners (Gen 17:27). Arabic min 'inda ('from at/with') and French de-avec ('from-with') both preserve the compound spatial logic. Korean -에게서 (-egeseo, 'from a person') similarly marks the personal-source frame. This sense is morphologically transparent but semantically distinct from simple accompaniment. 165×
AR["مِن","مِن-أمامِ","مِن-عِندِ","مِنْ","مِنْ-عِنْدِ","مِنْ-قُدَّامِ"]·ben["-থেকে","কাছ-থেকে","থেকে"]·DE["von","von-","von-mit"]·EN["from","from-","from-with"]·FR["de","de-","de-avec"]·heb["מ-את"]·HI["के-पास-से","पास-से","सामने-से","से"]·ID["dari"]·IT["da","da-","da-con"]·jav["saking","saking-"]·KO["-에서","~에게서","에게서","에게서-","에서","에서-","으로부터"]·PT["de-com","de-junto-de"]·RU["от","от-","у","у-"]·ES["de","de-","de-con","de-parte-de"]·SW["kutoka","kutoka-kwa","kutoka-mbele-ya","mtoka","mtu-"]·TR["-dan","-den","-yanından","Het'in","tarafından","yanından","önünden"]·urd["-طرف-سے","سے","سے-سامنے","سے-پاس","طرف-سے","پاس-سے","کی-طرف-سے"]
3. direct object marker — Direct object marker (orthographic overlap): grammatical particle marking the definite direct object — 50 occurrences where the suffixed forms of et-accompaniment have merged orthographically with the direct object marker et. This is especially common in later biblical prose: 'pitch it within and without' (Gen 6:14); 'the place where he had stood before the LORD' (Gen 19:27). Spanish and French typically leave this untranslated (using word order for object marking), while German and Korean use case markers. The overlap is a real feature of the textual tradition, not a scribal error, and is concentrated in Joshua-Kings, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel as BDB notes. 50×
AR["(أَدَاةُ مَفْعُولِيَّة)","-","אֶת","אֶת־","أَ-","أَيْ","اَلـ","عِنْدَ-","كُلَّ‒","∅-"]·ben["-","-এই","-কাছে","-কে","-সাথে-","সহ"]·DE["(*)","-"]·EN["-","[dir.obj.]","[is]-with-","[obj]","[with]-","the","to","to-","with-"]·FR["(*)","-"]·heb["את","את-"]·HI["-","-के साथ","-के-सअथ","-के-साथ","-को","את","के-सअमने-","के-साथ","को","में","साथ","से"]·ID["(*)","(O.P.)","(objek)","(part)","-","[obj]-","[part]","kepada"]·IT["(*)","-"]·jav["*","-","bab","bab-","dhateng-","dhumateng-","kaliyan","kaliyan-"]·KO["-에게","을","을-"]·PT["(a)","(a)-","-"]·RU["(вин.)-","-","[ОМ]","[объект]","·","и-селения-его","пред-","с-","у-"]·ES["(marca-de-objeto)","*-","a-"]·SW["-","DOM","kwa","kwa-Daudi","mchungaji","na","pamoja-na","pamoja-na-","wote","∅"]·TR["(işaret)-","-","-(nesne)","-i","-i-","-ı","[direkt]"]·urd["(کو)","-","-کو","اِت-","اپنے","ساتھ","میں","کو","کو-","کے"]
4. near, beside (proximity) — Spatial proximity: 'near, beside, at the place of' — 8 occurrences where et indicates physical nearness rather than active companiment. Rebekah's garments were 'with her' in the house (Gen 27:15, i.e., in her possession nearby); Moses is told 'there is a place beside me' (Exod 33:21); the creditor is not to exact payment from the one 'who is near you' (Deut 15:3). Arabic 'inda ('at, near, in the possession of') and German bei ('near, at, with') both select proximity-locative vocabulary here, distinct from the mobile companionship of sense 1. The boundary is subtle but consistently marked: static location rather than shared movement. 8×
AR["-","بِـ-","عِندي","عِندَها","عِنْدَ-"]·ben["-","-কাছে","-কে","আমার-কাছে","কাছে-","তাঁর-কাছে"]·DE["-","bei-","bei-ihr-waren","ist-bei-","mit-mich","nahe-"]·EN["-","at-","is-by-","near-","with-her","with-me"]·FR["-","avec-moi","avec-sa","est-par-","près-","à-"]·heb["אֵת","איתי","את","את-","אתה-ה"]·HI["[पास]","उस-के-पास","एत-","को","को-","पास","पास-","मेरे-पास"]·ID["-","akan-","bersama-Ku","bersamanya","dekat","dekat-","dekat-[part]"]·IT["-","a-","con-me","con-suo","vicino-a-","è-da-"]·jav["bab-","caket-","cèlak","cèlak-Kawula,","ing","kaliyan-","wonten-piyambakipun"]·KO["(을)-","-에-곁에","-와-함께","그녀에게-있는","나와-함께","에-"]·PT["(a)","(a)-","(junto-de)-","com-ela","comigo","junto-a"]·RU["[#]","с-ней","со-Мной","у","у-"]·ES["(marca-de-objeto)","a","a-","con","con-ella","junto-a","junto-a-mí"]·SW["(kielezi)","karibu-na","karibu-na-","kwa","kwake","pamoja-nami"]·TR["-","-i","ile-","yanımda","yanında","yanındaydı"]·urd["سے","سے-","میرے-پاس","پاس","پاس-اُس-کے","کے-پاس-"]
5. sense 5 — Adversarial or contrastive 'with' (against): a marginal sense appearing in Gen 14:9 where the kings wage war 'with' (i.e., against) other kings — 'Chedorlaomer... with Tidal... with Amraphel... with Arioch: four kings against five.' Spanish Con and German gegen- ('against') both surface here. The adversarial nuance arises from context rather than from a separate lexical meaning, but the passage's military register and the pairing of opposing coalitions push et toward 'allied with' or 'against' rather than simple accompaniment. Only 2 occurrences, both in the same battle narrative. 2×
AR["ضِدَّ"]·ben["-সাথে"]·DE["gegen-"]·EN["with"]·FR["avec"]·heb["את"]·HI["के-विरुध","के-विरुध-"]·ID["dengan","melawan-"]·IT["con"]·jav["nglawan","nglawan-"]·KO["와","을-"]·PT["Com","contra-"]·RU["против-"]·ES["Con","[part.obj.]"]·SW["dhidi-ya"]·TR["-ile-"]·urd["کے-ساتھ"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H5971a 1. people, nation (1836×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
II. אֵת prep. with—with makk. אֶת־, with suff. אִתִּי, אִתְּךָ, אִתְּכֶם etc., also, however, אֽוֹתְךָ, אוֹתוֹ, and similarly מֵאֽוֹתְךָ, מֵאוֹתוֹ etc., first in Jos 10:25; 14:12, next 2 S 24:24; then repeatedly (but not exclusively) 1 K 20–2 K 8, & in Je Ez, e.g. 1 K 20:25 (but v 23 אִתָּם) 22:7, 8, 24 (beside מֵאתִּי) 2 K 1:15; 3:11, 12, 26; 6:16 (beside אִתָּנוּ) 8:8; Je 2:35; 10:5; 16:8;…