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im
ים
Although it should be noted that affixes in ancient Hebrew are not well understood, the ים suffix is one of the more consistent examples. Pronounced “im”, this suffix is appended to a root word in order to pluralize the word. The suffix im always indicates a plural, and therefore a group. In a handful of cases the “grouping” itself is the salient feature and the word ending in 'im' is in fact a numerative device resulting in a multiplication of the root number, as discussed further here.
Aside from these distinctly numeric cases, the suffix is more generally applied to not merely a group of any random objects, but a group of living beings. The new word with the suffix included references the a group of living entities. These beings are sometimes animals and most often humans. Essentially, if “im” is added to the end of <X>, then the new word (“<X>im”) means “The <X> people”, where X describes some characteristic of the people. The 'im suffix implies a plural personification.
Animals
As already mentioned, there are a few words ending in the im suffix which appear to refer to animals.
Humans
In the case of humans, we see the root appearing on words indicating a certain profession or specific skill. It also appears in instances indicating what we might think of as “nationality”, normally indicating where this group of people are from and by extension what culture they are part of.
Examples of occupations include:
| Type | Hebrew Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Occupation | alonim | Oak-craftsmen |
| Occupation | azerim | Cedar-craftsmen |
| Occupation | nehesim | Copper-craftsmen |
| Occupation | serepim | Grill-masters |
| Occupation | seyerim | Gatekeepers |
| Occupation | reyim | Shepherds |
| Occupation | peresim | Horsemen |
| Occupation | hemerim | Donkey-men |
| Occupation | seremim | Singers |
| Occupation | serim/rashim | Chiefs |
| Occupation | yebedim | Servants |
| Occupation | melekim | Kings |
| Occupation | pelim/herefemim | Wizards |
| Occupation | konim | Priests |
| Occupation | heqim | Scribes |
Examples of nationality include:
| Type | Hebrew Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Nationality | mexerim | Egyptians |
| Nationality | keneyenim | Canaanites |
| Nationality | hetim | Hittites |
| Nationality | kesedim | Chaldeans |
| Nationality | kosim | Kushites |
| Nationality | medenim | Midianites |
| Nationality | pelesitim | Philistines/Palestinians |
| Nationality | setim | Sethites |
| Nationality | zerim | foreigners |
| Nationality | yeberim | Hebrews |
| Nationality | ihodim | The People of Ihoh |
Other categories of people such as benim and iledim both of which refer to “children”, zeqenim “the elderly”. These are simply plurals of adjectives that can describe people.
Others
There are many words ending with im which seem to be neither human, nor animal, but some other type of living beings.
The alehim (aka Elohim) are most assuredly a group of entities having a form of intelligence. However, it is not entirely clear if they are “human”. Other beings in this category include the kerobim and serepim
However, the 'im' suffix brings with it an implication of a certain specific culture, skills, and origin.
Later we will make a list of words using this suffix, but for now use the backlinks to this page for a dynamic list, each of which is discussed on their own page.