An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

9.5.3 Adjectival Genitive
a In adjectival genitive phrases, the construct and genitive modify each other, one
specifying features of the other. In English, comparable semantic structures often
involve adjectives or, less often, noun compounds; genitives are not usually used.
Examples are not rare, however: ‘a man of many talents,’ cf. a ‘a multi-talented
woman’; ‘a coat of wool,’cf. ‘a cotton shirt’; ‘the city of Lachish,’ cf. ‘the Beth-
Shean area.’ Hebrew expressions of attribution, substance, and class-membership
often use constructs.
[Page 149] b The largest group of adjectival genitives refers to a feature or quality
of something.
The most common type of these is the attributive genitive, in which C is
characterized by G; in English such phrases are often rendered with G as an
adjective of C.
1.
2.
3.
4. םיבִ הָ ֲ ֫
5.
6.
7.
שׁדֶ קּ֫ הַ ידֵ גְ ִבוּ holy garments
Exod 29:29
לִיחַ֫ רוֹבּ ִגּ valiant warrior
Judg 11:1
דסֶ חֶ֫ י ֵכל ְ ַמ merciful kings
תאֵ ... ךָ ְל יתִּ תַ ָנוְ תזַּ חֻ אֲ ַל ן ַענ ַ֫
ְכּ ץרֶ א־ל ֶ֫
ָכּ
ם֑ לוֹע ָ
הֶיהִי ְ
1 Kgs 20:31
א ת ֶל ֶיּאַ beloved hind
קדֶ ֶצ֫
ינֵ זאֹ ְ מ
... קדצ ֶ ק־י ֫ נֵ ְבאַ ם֑ כֶ לָ
וּניהלֹ ֵ֫
אֱ
רי ִע ְבּ
׃וֹשׁדְ ק־ר ָ הַ
Prov 5:19
I will give to you…all the land of Canaan as a
possession of perpetuity (i.e., as an perpetual
possession).
Gen 17:8
Balances of righteousness, stones of
righteousness…you will have (i.e., use honest scales).
Lev 19:36
in the city of our God, his holy mountain
Ps 48:2
Closely related to this attributive genitive is the use of the genitive in
conventional idioms consisting of construct forms of שׁיא ִ ‘man’ (## 8–9), ל ַע ַ֫בּ
‘master, possessor’ (## 10–12), ן ֶבּ ‘son of’ (## 13–14), or their feminine or plural