In our previous lessons concerning verbs we learned that verbs have two tenses, perfect and imperfect. A Hebrew verb participle is a third tense of a verb and simply identifies the action of a verb. As an example, in the sentence קוצר יעקב (qotser ya'aqov) the verb qatsar is written as a participle and the sentence would be translated as "Jacob is cutting." Particples do identify the gender and number of the subject of the verb but it does not identify the person (1st, 2nd or 3rd). Generally speaking the participle is translated in the present tense, but keep in mind that the Hebrew verb is not related to time but action.

As I have stated a participle identifies an action but, it can also be used for one who does that action. For instance, when the root רעה (ra'ah), meaning "to feed," is written in the masculing, singular participle it becomes רועה (ro'eh) and means "seeing" such as we find in Genesis 30:36 which states that "Jacob was 'feeding' the remainder of Laban's flock." But, this same participle can mean "one who feeds," a shepherd, as we see in the 23rd Psalm, "Yahweh is my 'shepherd'." The most common form of participles is the pa'al form and below is a chart of these participles.