21.6 יֵשׁ and אֵין

These are particles that assert the existence or non-existence of something or someone

• Mnemonics:
  • יֵשׁ sounds like “yes” as in “yes there are”
  • אֵין sounds like the English slang word “ain’t,” as in “ain’t none”
• These do not inflect for gender or number
  • אֵין could mean “there is not”/“there are not”, or simply negating the word that follows
• When prefixed with לְ, indicates possession or non-possession
  • We saw this way back in the Lesson 3 Study Verses
  • Genesis 44:20 - יֶשׁ־לָנוּ אָב זָקֵן = we have an elderly father (lit: there is to us a father old)
• Pronominal suffixes occur on יֵשׁ only 9 times, compared with 104 times on אֵין
  • 2 Kings 17:34: אֵינָם יְרֵאִים = they do not fear