§ 123. The Representation of Plural Ideas by Means of Collectives, and by the Repetition of Words.
(a) Certain words employed exclusively in a collective sense, while the individual members of the class are denoted by special words (nomina unitatis, but not in the same sense as in § 122 t).
Thusrq'B' cattle, oxen1 (even joined with numerals, e. g. Ex 21:37rq'b' hV'mix] five head of cattle), butrAv an ox;!aoc small cattle, i. e. sheep and goats (mh/la ), cf. Jb 1:3!aoc-ypel.a; t[;b.vi seven thousand sheep; buthf, a single head of small cattle (a sheep or a goat). Other more or less common collectives are:zyzI (prop. that which prowls or roams) wild beasts,@j; (perhaps prop. tripping) a number of little children;av,D,ñ fresh green herb, i. e. young plants,qr,y<ò green, i. e. vegetation in general;@A[ birds, fowl;bk,r,ñ chariots or cavalcade,hM'rI worms,fm,r,ñ creeping things (of small creatures),#r,v,ñ swarming things.
(c) The feminine ending; see § 122 s.
1. The repetition of one or more words to express the idea of every, all, as~Ay ~Ay Gn 39:10, &c., day by day, every day;hn"v' hn"v' year by year, Dt 14:22;vyai vyai every man, Ex 36:4; withB. before each, asrq,BoñB; rq,BoñB; Ex 16:21 every morning (and similarly before a group of words, Lv 24:8), for which the distributivel. is also used,rq,Boñl; rq,Boñl; 1 Ch 9:27, and with one plural~yrIq'B.l; y Ps 73:14,~yrIq'b.li Jb 7:18 parallel with~y[ig"r>li every moment. Somewhat different are the instances withB. before the second word only, e. g.~AyB. ~Ay day by day, 1 Ch 12:22(23);hn"v'b. hn"v' year by year, Dt 15:20, 1 S 1:7 (but in verse 3hm'ymiñy" ~ymiY"mi ),~[;p;ñB. ~[;p;ñK. Nu 24:1, Ju 16:20, 20:30 f., 1 S 3:10 as at other times. Also with the two words united by means ofwaÒw copulative,vyaiw> vyai y Ps 87:5, orvyaiw" vyai Est 1:8;rAdw" rAD all generations, Dt 32:7;~AYw" ~Ay Est 3:4; cf. Est 8:9, Ezr 10:14, 1 Ch 26:13 and often (cf. Cheyne, Bampton lectures, 1889, p. 479, according to whom the use of thew copulative with the second word is especially common in Ch and Est, and therefore belongs to the later language; Driver, Introd.6, p. 538, No. 35); sometimes (but with the exception ofy Ps 45:18 only in very late passages) with a pleonastic-lK' preceding,y Ps 145:13, Est 2:11, 9:28, 2 Ch 11:12, &c.
2. Repetition of words in an expressly distributive sense2 (which may to some extent be noticed in the examples under c) equivalent to one each, &c., e. g. Nu 14:34 forty days d
hn"V'l; ~Ay hn"V'l; ~Ay counting for every day a year; cf. Ez 24:6, Ex 28:34 (three words repeated); also with the addition ofdb;l. apart,ADb;l. rd,[e rd,[e every drove by itself, Gn 32:17; cf. Zc 12:12. Most frequently with the addition of a numeral (for the simple repetition of numerals for the same purpose, cf. § 134 q), and with the words not only in groups of two (Lv 24:8, Nu 13:2, 31:4) or three (Nu 7:11, 17:21), but even of six (Ex 26:3) or seven (Ex 25:33, 26:19, 21, 25); in Ex 25:35 five words even three times repeated.3
3. Repetition to express an exceptional or at least superfine quality; e. g. 2 K 25:15 which were of gold, gold, of silver, silver, i. e. made of pure gold and pure silver; Dt 2:27 e
%r,D,ñB; %r,D,ñB; only along by the high way; cf. Nu 3:8, 8:16 they are given, given to him, i. e. given exclusively for his service, for his very own. Also with a certain hyperbole in such examples as 2 K 3:16~ybiGE ~ybiGE nothing but trenches; Gn 14:10rm'xe tAa/B, troa/B, all asphalt-pits.—Repetition serves to intensify the expression to the highest degree in Ju 5:22 by reason of the violent pransings of his strong ones, Ex 8:10 (countless heaps), and Jo 4:14 (countless multitudes); cf. alsoj[;m. j[;m. Ex 23:30 by little and little, very gradually; cf. § 133 k.
4. Repetition with the copula to express of mare than one kind; thus Dt 25:13 (Pr 20:10) f
!b,a,ñw" !b,a,ñ a weight and a weight, i. e. two kinds of weight (hence the addition great and small);y Ps 12:3blew" bleB. with two kinds of heart, i. e. with a double-dealing heart; cf. the oppositeblew" ble aolB. 1 Ch 12:33(34).
Footnotes:
1[1] The plural form
2[1] Cf. in the New Testament St. Mark 6:39 f.
3[2] These repetitions of larger groups of words belong entirely to the Priestly Code in the Pentateuch, and are unquestionably indications of a late period of the language. Of quite a different kind are such examples as Ez 16:6, where the repetition of four words serves to give greater solemnity to the promise, unless here, as certainly in 1:20, it is a mere dittography; the LXX omit the repetition in both passages.