An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

y the qualities of the noun that a plural is used. Two of the great monsters in the
Bible are designated with intensive plurals. 14
1.
2.
י ֵשׁאר ָ תָּ ְצ ַצּרִ התָּ אַ
ל ָכאֲ ַמ וּנּ ֶנ֫ תְּ תּ ִ ןתָי ֑ ָ וְ ִל
׃םיִיּ ִצ ְל ם ָע ְל
םיני ִ נִּ ת ַ י ֵשׁאר ָ תָּ רְ
ַ֫בּ ִשׁ
׃םִימּ ָ֫
ה־ל ַ ַע
You broke the heads of the monster in the water.
You crushed the heads of Leviathan.
You gave it as food for people, for(?) beasts.
Ps 74:13–14
... תוֹמהֵ ְב אנ־ה ָ ֵנּהִ Behold Behemoth…
וֹחֹכ אנ־ה ָ ֵנּהִ ... וי֑ נָתְ ָמ ְב
לא־י ֑ ֵ ֵכרְ דּ ַ תי ִשׁא ֵ אוּה
Behold his strength in his loins…
ר He is the first of God’s ways(?).
Job 40:15, 16, 19
Related to this intensification is a kind of generalization whereby a whole
species of animal is designated by a plural form. 15
3. ׃תוֹנֹת ֲ ֫
4.
א־ן ֶבּ רִי ַע־ל ַעוְ on a colt, the foal of a donkey
וֹא יבִ ְצ ִל ידוֹד ִ ה ֶמוֹדּ
םי֑ לָיּ ִ אַ הָ ◌ ֽ ר ֶפֹע ֫ ְל
Zech 9:9
My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Cant 2:9
b These animal uses are overshadowed by similar plurals used in reference or
address to humans or to God, the honorific uses. Most honorific plurals in the
Bible involve the God of Israel, and the most common of these is םיהלֹ ִ א, ֱ used
about twenty-five hundred times. When used of the God of Israel, this term
usually takes singular agreement ( קידִּ ַצ םיהלֹ ִ אֱ
‘a just God,’ Ps 7:10); 16 when
14
For ם ִנינִ תּ ַ as a true plural see Gen 1:21; for תוֹמה ֵ ְבּ as a true plural see Ps 8:8
(note םלָּ ֻכּ with the preceding combination of collective and plural). It may be that
םי ִפ רָ ְ
תּ is a plural of this sort, though in 1 Sam 19:13 one object seems to be referred
to with that term.
15
A related pattern may be the use of the plural form to indicate that any one of
several choices is acceptable. Thus in Deut 17:5 a person is to be sent out
ךָי ר֫ ֶ ָע ְשׁ־לאֶ , where the sense suggests the gloss ‘to (any one of) your (various city)
gates.’
16
There are a few exceptions, concentrated curiously in the Pentateuch. The
agreement is mixed in, e.g., Josh 24:19, which has plural predicate adjectives and a
singular verb.