An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

a The common noun with the article may have a unique, particular, or generic function.
Generic usage is vastly more common in Hebrew than it is in English.
b The common noun with an article may designate a unique referent. The uniqueness
may be natural, for example, שׁמֶ ָשּׁ ֫ ה ַ ‘the sun’ in Exod 17:12 or חַ רָיּ ֵ ַל ‘to the moon’
in Deut 17:3; or theological, for example, םיהלֹ ִ אֱ ה ֽ ָ ‘God’ in Gen 6:2; or situational,
for example, ךְ ֶל ֶמּ ֫ ה ַ ‘the King’ in 1 Sam 8:9 or לֹדגָּ ה ַ ןהֹכּ ֵ ַ
ה ‘the High Priest’ in Num
35:25. The usage conflicts to some extent with the intrinsic definiteness of unique
appellatives (13.4b); on the whole, with theological terms and place names the article
is rare.
c Situational uniqueness arises because, for example, the culture allows only one king
or high priest at a time. Closely related to this type of definiteness is the use of the
noun + article to designate a well-known thing or person; the combination is close to
constituting a name (cf. 13.6). Consider, for example, these English sentences: ‘I’m
going on holiday in the Rocky Mountains’ versus ‘I will meet you at the rocky hill.’
In English we distinguish these two uses in writing by capitalizing the former and
writing the latter in lower case. The distinctions involved are sometimes subjective
and arbitrary.
1. תחַ תַּ ֫ ִמ ר ֵבקָּ תִּ וַ
ןוֹ ֑לּאַ ה ֽ ָ תחַ תּ ַ֫
לא־תי ֵ בֵ ל ְ
2.
׃שׁ ַער֫ ָה
ָ ינֵ ְפ ִ
And she was buried under the oak below Bethel.
Gen 35:8
ל before the earthquake
Amos 1:1
d The article most often serves to give a noun a particular reference.
3.
... ךָ ְצרְ אַ ֵמ ךָ ְל־ךְ ֶל
ר ֶשׁ א ֲ ץרֶ א֫ ָ ה־ל ָ אֶ
׃ ָךּא֫ ֶ רְ א ַ
Go from your land…to the land that I will show you.
Gen 12:1
Particular reference may be based on previous mention of the thing or person;
such use is anaphoric.
4. . . . רקָ בּ־ן ָ ֶבּ חקִּיּ ַ וַ
רקָ בָּ ה־ן ַ ֶבּ . . . חקִּיּ ַ וַ
5. ם ֵשׁ וְ
. . . שׁיא ִ ךְ ֵל ֵיּ֫ וַ
ךְ ֶל ֶמי ֫ ִלא ֱ שׁיאִ ה ָ
6. רוֹא ֑ יהְי ִ םיהלֹ ִ א ֱ ר ֶמאֹ יּ֫ וַ
םיהלֹ ִ א ֱ ארַיּ ְ וַ
. . .
And he took a calf…and he took…the calf.
Gen 18:7–8
And a man went out…and the name of that man was
Elimelech.
Ruth 1:1–2
And God said, “Let there be light.”…And God saw the
light.