"T and Abram and Nahor took to themselves wives, Gen. 11:29. and Aaron and his sons placed their hands, &c. Lev. 8:14, 36.* 5. a. When the nouns constituting the subject are of different genders, the verb following them, if referring to both, is put in the masculine form (see § 731. 5. a.), either in the plural, e. g. on thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me, IYUDI ADID Ps. 23: 4., TOп O mercy and truth shall go before thy face, Ps. 89: 15. * * thou shalt beget sons and daughters; but they shall not remain with thee, for they shall go into captivity, Deut. 28: 41.; or, if the nouns are singular, in the singular, e. g. ointment and זְנוּת וְיַיִן וְתִירוֹשׁ יִקַח לֵב,.9: 27 .perfume rejoice the heart, Prov whoredom, and wine, and must, seduce the heart, Hos. 4:11.† When the verb refers to either of two or more preceding singular nouns, it may also be put in the singular or in the plural, e. g. 2008 MUX) 10 a man or woman who does evil, N N N Deut. 17: 2., man or that woman who has done (lit. have done) this wicked thing, v. 5. b. When the verb precedes the nouns, it usually agrees with the and the man וַיִּתְחַבֵּא הָאָדָם וְאִשְׁתּוֹ .first in gender and number, e. g וַיָּבֹא נֹחַ וּבָנָיו וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וּנְשֵׁי .3:8 .and his wife hid themselves, Gen Es in Noah, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, went into the ark, Gen. 7: 7, 13. 8:18. Prov. 23:25.; and Miriam and Aaron spolke against וַתְּדַבֵּר מִרְיָם וְאַהֲרֹן בְּמשֶׁה Moses, Num. 12:1. Judg. 5: 1. Esth. 9:29., and she, and he, and her house did eat, 1 Kings 17 : 15. 6. When the predicate consists of two or more verbs, one of which is placed before and the rest after the nouns constituting the subject (§ 733. 2. a.), the first usually agrees with the noun nearest to it, and the rest with both or all of them, according to the rules detailed above, e. g. Pharaoh, and said to him, Ex. 10: 3., bpan Very rarely a following verb is put in the singular, agreeing with the last noun, e. g. and behold David's men and Joab came, 2 Sam. 3:22. Occasionally, though very seldom, the verb agrees with the first noun in gen הָאִשָּׁה וִילָדֶיהָ תִּהְיֶה לַאדֹנֶיהָ .der and number when it is the principal one, e. g the woman and her children shall be her master's, Ex. 21: 4. Da so Joshua and all the people came, and fell upon them, Josh. 11:7., it over both their shoulders, and walked backwards, and covered their father's nakedness, Gen. 9: 23., A) 807 1201 Rachel and וַתִּגַּשׁ לֵאָה וִילָדֶיהָ וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ וְאַחַר .31:14 ,Leah anstered and said Leah also and her children approached and נִגַּשׁ יוֹסֵף וְרָחֵל וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ bowed themselves, and afterwards Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed themselves, 33: 7. 7. When the nouns or pronouns constituting the subject are of different persons, the verb is put in the first person rather than in the second or third, and in the second rather than in the third, e. g. TITT let us make a covenant, I and thou, Gen. 31:44., I 22:5., אֲנִי עַד־כֹּה בא אַתָּה,.5 :22 ,I and the lad will go thither וְהַנַּעַר נֵלְכָה עַד כֹּה *.1 : 7 ,enter thou and all thy house into the ark וְכָל־בֵּיתְךָ אֶל־הַתֵּבָה § 734. 1. When the termination of a noun would indicate a gender or number different from that which it regularly has according to its signification (see §§ 494. II., 495. 1., 555, et seqq.), the circumstance does not affect the form of qualificatives belonging to it, which agree with it not formally but logically, i. e. according to the sense. Thus with respect to gender, e. g. Prov. 11:1., Prov. 20: 12., the great lights, Gen. 1: 16., Neh. 9:30., number, e. g. (see § 759. 3. a.), that great city, Jon. 4:11. a hearing ear and a seeing eye, this well, Gen. 21:30.; a beautiful women, Job 42: 15. eggs left, Is. 10:14. With respect to many sheep, Gen. 30: 43. (see §§ 742, 743). 2. The same is the case with verbs and other predicatives: with respect to gender, e. g. childless, 1 Sam. 15:33., Ps. 97:8., thy sword has made women Zion hears and rejoices, the Preacher was wise, Eccl. 12:8, 9., and the women came out, 1 Sam. 18:6. Zech. 14:2., הָאָבוֹת .5:22 .his own iniquities shall take him, Prov עֲוֹנוֹתָיו יִלְכָּדנו ,the fathers (are) kindling the fire מְבַעֲרִים אֶת־הָאֵשׁ וְהַנָּשִׁים לָשׁוֹת בָּצֵק and the women kneading dough, Jer. 7:18. ;t with respect to number, • This coincides with the usage of the classical languages, thus iyo xaì ov γράφομεν, ego et tu scribimus; σὺ καί ἐκεῖνος γράφετε, tu et ille scribitis. † Occasionally, however, the rule is neglected, and the predicate is made to agree with its subject formally, e. g. bp says the Preacher, Eccl. 7 : 27. youth renews itself like the eagle's, Ps. 103: 5.* § 735. 1. Some names of inanimate things are common with respect to gender, that is, they are construed sometimes in the masculine and sometimes in the feminine (see § 495. 2.), e. g. in 8 the stone sank into his forehead, 1 Sam. 17:49., pstone (is) melted, Job 28: 2.; ning man when the signs are come, 1 Sam. 10.7., inis all these signs came to pass, v. 9., &c. &c. 2. Other nouns are common as to number. These are collective nouns, which, although having the singular form, include a number of individuals, and hence may be construed either formally in the singular, or logically in the plural (§ 739. 1.), e. g. ON DI P and the people cried to Pharaoh, Gen. 41: 55. Ex. 12: 34. 32: 1. Num. 21: 7., inand the people feared the Lord, Ex. 14:31. Num. 14: 1. C. § 736. 1. Personal pronouns and pronominal suffixes likewise agree in gender and number with the nouns to which they refer, e. g. and he (the man) shall rule over thee (the woman), cursed (art) thou (the serpent), v. 14., N thou (art) a woman beautiful of aspect, 12:11., 777 78777 Gen. 3: 16., the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful, and they took themselves wives, 6: 2., and she kissed them (her daughters), Ruth 1:9., deliver the Hebrew women, Ex. 1: 16. when ye (the midwives) 2. a. A personal pronoun referring to two or more nouns of the same gender agrees with them in gender, and is put in the plural number (see § 731. 4.), e. g. 777 UN DON J02) and God placed them (the greater and lesser light) in the firmament, Gen. 1 : 17. 4 : 8., E and both of them (Jonathan and David) went out into וְאַחֲנָה יְדַעְתֶּן כִּי בְכָל־כֹּחִי עֲבַדְתִּי אֶת־אֲבִיכֶן,.11: 120 .the field, 1 Sam and ye (Rachel and Leah) know that I have served your father with all my might, Gen. 31:6. b. When the nouns are of different genders, the pronoun is put in the masculine plural (see § 731. 5.), e. g. and the eyes of both of them (the woman and her וַיֵּדְעוּ כִּי עֵירְפִים הֵם husband) were opened, and they knew that they (were) naked, Gen. 3 : 7., the heavens and the earth and all the וַיְכַלּוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ וְכָל־צְבָאָם ⚫ For exceptions to this part of the rule, see § 759. 3. b. a. ß. host of them were finished, 2:1, 4. Deut. 28: 32.; but should the statement refer not to both subjects together, but to either of them, the pronoun may be put in the singular or in the plural (see § 733. 5. a.), e. g. mm TEN IN CN if a man or woman have upon him man or a woman have on the skin of their flesh bright spots, v. 38. D. 737. 1. In Hebrew as in other inflected languages, an attributive whether adjective or participle may be employed alone in the gender, number, &c. of the noun to which it refers, and which although not expressed may readily be supplied,* e. g. bp CT TENT and the strong cannot reinforce his strength, nor can the mighty deliver of the rise (man) are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness, Gen. 1:9., keeps the commandment keeps his own soul, whoso disregards his ways shall be destroyed, Prov. 19: 16. 2. When attributives or pronouns do not refer to any particular noun or nouns expressed or understood, but are employed in a manner corresponding to that of the Greek and Latin neuter plural absolute, they are generally put in the feminine gender, which in Hebrew bears the greatest analogy to the neuter (see § 739. 2. b.), e. g. they know not how to do right, Amos 3: 10., DEN and he spoke to them harsh things, Gen. 42:7, 30. Jer. 33: 3. Ps. 12: 4., ** p anh thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things, Ps. 45:5. 106: 21. Job 5: 9. 9: 10., what (is) this? Gen. 3: 13. Ex. 7: 17. Is. 9: 6., on and thereby I shall know that thou hast showed kindness, Gen. 24 : 14., mobo any tha all these (things) are against me, 42: 86. Occasionally the same construction appears also in verbs, e. g. mur de pan stand, nor shall it come to pass, Is. 7:7. 14:24. who (are) these that fly like a cloud ? Is. 60 : 8. it shall not In English, where attributives are not inflected, this construction also obtains, although to a much more limited extent, as the rich, the poor, the strong, the weak, the living, De dead, &c. &c. Agreement of Collectives. §738. The above are the principal rules respecting the agreement of predicatives and qualificatives with the nouns to which they bear a coördinate relation. As there are however a multitude of instances in which these rules may at first sight appear to have been utterly disregarded, it will be necessary to show, by a full exposition of such discrepancies and of the causes in which they originate, that they are the result of principles as deep and permanent in their influ ence as those that give rise to the more usual and apparently more natural modes of construction. §739. The deviations from ordinary usage to which we allude, are such as take place for the most part with collectives, and depend on the nature of such nouns, which are common with respect to number (§ 697), and also on the fact that the Hebrew writers sometimes neglect to mark the gender of secondary words in cases where such neglect can occasion no ambiguity of meaning. Thus, 1. A collective noun, as we have said, is common with respect to number, that is to say, in conséquence of its anomalous nature, having a singular form and a plural signification, it may be viewed simply as a singular noun, the name of a body or class, and construed formally like other singular nouns with a predicate or attributive in the singular; or it may be viewed as denoting a number of individual existences, and construed logically in the plural. 2. a. As the male takes a more active share than the female sex in the affairs of life, and hence acquires a greater prominency in most narrations of events, it follows that when the gender of a noun construed in the plural is neglected, the masculine form is employed more frequently than the feminine. b. Again, from the superiority thus attributed to the masculine over the feminine gender, there results as a corollary the rule, that the masculine form is most frequently employed with reference to rational beings, and the feminine with reference to irrational or inanimate ones. § 740. From these general principles we deduce the several specific rules for the apparently abnormal constructions that appear in the agreement of accessory words with collective nouns and nouns con. strued collectively. |