An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

8.
9.
ה ָנ ָמ לְ א ַ ה ָשּׁ א ִ a woman, a widow (a widow)
1 Kgs 7:14
תוֹנֹז םי ִשׁ נ ָ םִיתּ ַ֫
ְשׁ two women, prostitutes (two prostitutes)
1 Kgs 3:16
c The appositive term may refer to a different kind of categorization than the leadword.
The appositive can refer to the quality or character of the leadword.
11.
12.
13.
10.
שׁאֹ ר םימִ ָשׂ ְבּ spices, first (fine spices)
ת ֶמ א ֱ םירִ ָמ ֲ
ץחַ ַל ֫ םִי ֫
ה ָל ֵערְ תּ ַ ןִי ֫
Exod 30:23
א words, truth (truthful words)
Prov 22:21
מוּ ַ water, distress (water as scanty as in drought)
1 Kgs 22:27
ַי wine, reeling (wine that makes one stagger)
Ps 60:5
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More commonly, the appositive, if it is semantically distinct from the leadword,
refers to the material of the leadword; both appositives of quality and material tend to
involve inanimates.
14. ת ֶשׁ ֹח֫ ְנּה ַ רקָ בָּ הַ
oxen, bronze (bronze oxen)
15.
16.
ץ ֵע־ל ָכּ הרָ ֵשׁ ֲ
ן ֶבא ָ֫
םי ִ
17. םירִ ָג ְפּה ַ ק ֶמ ֵע֫ ה־ל ָ ָכו ְ
ן ֶשׁ דֶּ֫ הַ וְ
2 Kgs 16:17
א Asherah, every wood (Asherahs made of any kind of
wood)
Deut 16:21
רוּט rows, stones (rows of stones)
Exod 28:17
all the valley, the corpses and the ashes (the whole
valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown)
Jer 31:40
d The appositive of measure juxtaposes as leadword a measure, weight, or number and
as appositive the substance measured, weighed, or counted (## 18–20) or vice versa
(## 21–22). 8
18. . . . ת ֶלס־ה ֫ אָ סְ
םירֹע ִ ְשׂ םִיתא ַ֫
סָ וְ
a seah of flour…and two seahs of barley 9
8 Similarly, if the leadword is price, the appositive is the thing valued. It may be that
the leadword is to be understood in some rare instances, e.g., wyprṣ [prṣ]…˒rb˓ m˒wt
˒mh, ‘He broke [a breaking]…four hundred cubits’ (2 Kgs 14:13).
9 Cf. Ruth 2:17.