An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

singular for intimacy. English, lacking this linguistic and cultural pattern, uses the
singular. 3
f Grammatical number thus does not directly and necessarily represent “thought.” It
is rather a language- and cultural-specific system. It should be no surprise that
Hebrew grammatical number cannot always be represented straightforwardly in
English. Since number may be used in many different ways within a language and
since it is determined[Page 113] in part by the meaning of the word, our
discussion will touch on many facets of syntax and lexicon.
g Hebrew, like other Semitic languages, uses three numbers: singular, dual, and
plural. In the following sections we analyze and display the uses of these
numbers. 4
7.2 Singular
a Hebrew uses the grammatical singular for countables, for collectives, and for
class nouns. Singular nouns may be repeated in various constructions.
7.2.1 Countables and Collectives
a With countables the singular serves to enumerate one object. With entities that
Hebrew counts as “one object” or “more than one object,” the singular usually
enumerates the referent as an individual. Countable nouns are the most common.
1.
יתִּ ְשׁ א־ת ִ אֶ ה ָבהָ Give (me) my wife.
2. וּהֹת ֫ התְי ָ הָ ◌ ֽ ץרֶ ָ֫
3. שׁי ִ ֵ֫
אהָ וְ
וּהֹב֫ וָ
Gen 29:21
And the earth was waste-and-void.
Gen 1:2
א וּהא ֵצ ְמִ יּוַ A man found him.
Gen 37:15
3 English used to distinguish second-person singular pronouns (thou, thee, thy, thine)
and plural (ye, you, your, yours), but the plural forms have taken over completely
now. In Early Modern English translations of the Bible God was addressed in the
singular (“Heare thou then in heaven, in thy dwelling place,” 1 Kgs 8:39, Geneva
Bible, 1560); in some modern translations the archaic singular is preserved only in
addresses to God (“Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place,” RSV, 1952). In
most European languages with honorifics it is the intimate form that is used for
addresses to God (“Toi, écoute au ciel, où tu résides,” Bible de Jérusalem).
4 On number in Hebrew generally, see, e.g., D. Michel, Grundlegung einer
hebräischen Syntax (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener. 1977), 1.83–89.