§ 124. The Various Uses of the Plural-form.1

a

1. The plural is by no means used in Hebrew solely to express a number of individuals or separate objects, but may also denote them collectively. This use of the plural expresses either (a) a combination of various external constituent parts (plurals of local extension), or (b) a more or less intensive focusing of the characteristics inherent in the idea of the stem (abstract plurals, usually rendered in English by forms in -hood, -ness, -ship). A variety of the plurals described under (b), in which the secondary idea of intensity or of an internal multiplication of the idea of the stem may be clearly seen, is (c) the pluralis excellentiae or pluralis maiestatis.

b

Examples of (a): Plurals of local extension to denote localities in general, but especially level surfaces (the surface-plural), since in them the idea of a whole composed of innumerable separate parts or points is most evident, as ~yIm;ñv' (§ 88 d) heaven (cf. also ~ymiArm. heights of heaven, Is 33:16, Jb 16:19; elsewhere ~Arm'); ~yIm;ñ water; ~yMiy: (the broad surface of the sea) poetically for ~y" sea; ~ynIP' (prop. the side turned towards any one, then) surface in general, usually face; ~yrIAxa] the back, Ex 26:12, 33:23, &c., ~yrIaW"c; neck, nape of the neck2; also tAva]r†;m. the place at the head, tAlG>r>m; place at the feet; ~yrIb'[] place on the other side (of a river); ~yQim;[]m†; depth, ~yQix;r>m, (also qx'r>m,) distance, ~ybiK'v.mi bed, Gn 49:4 (unless, with Dillmann, it is to be explained in the sense of double bed, i. e. torus), ~ynIK'v.mi y Ps 46:5, and tAnK'v.mi 43:3, 84:2, 132:5, dwelling (perhaps also ~ylih'a)o encampment, in passages like 1 S 4:10). The last four belong, however, to poetic style, and are better reckoned amongst the plurals of amplification treated under d–f. So perhaps ~y[icuy> bed (y Ps 63:7, Jb 17:13; but Gn 49:4, y Ps 132:3, &c., in the singular); probably, however, ~y[icuy> (prop. strata) refers to a number of coverings or pillows.
The plural of extension is used to denote a lengthened period of time in ~ymil'A[) eternity (everlasting ages).

d

Rem. The plural of extension includes also a few examples which were formerly explained as simply poetic plurals, e. g. Jb 17:1 yli ~yrIb'q. graves are (ready) for me, i. e. the place where there are many of them (as it were the graveyard) is my portion, Jb 21:32, 2 Ch 16:14; cf. 2 K 22:20.

d

Of (b): the tolerably numerous abstract plurals, mostly of a particular form (qetÌuÖliÖm, qitæÌuÖliÖm, &c.), may be divided into two classes. They sum up either the conditions or qualities inherent in the idea of the stem, or else the various single acts of which an action is composed. Cf. for the first class, ~yrIWxB. and tArWxB. youth, ~ynIquz> old age, ~yrIW[n> youth; ~yliWtB. maidenhood, tAlWlK. bridal state; ~yrIWgm. condition of a sojourner, ~yrIf'B. fleshliness (only in Pr 14:30), ~yYIx; life (the abstract idea of the qualities of a living being); ~yliWKvi childlessness, ~yrIwEn>s; blindness, ~y[iw>[i perverseness.

e

There are also a number of plurals, found almost exclusively in poetry (sometimes along with the singular), which are evidently intended to intensify3 the idea of the stem (plural of amplification), as ~ynIAa might, Is 40:26; ~ynIWma/ (as well as hn"Wma/) and tAnWma/ faithfulness; yrev.a; (according to § 93 l, only in the construct state plural or with suffixes = the happiness of), happy; tArv'AK) (complete) prosperity, y Ps 68:7; tAnyBi Is 27:11 and tAnWbT. Is 40:14, &c. (keen) understanding; tAc[e (true) counsel, Dt 32:28; ~y[iDe Jb 37:16 and tA[De 1 S 2:3 (thorough) knowledge; tAxJuB; Jb 12:6 and ~yxij;b.mi Is 32:18 (full) confidence; tAkr'B. (abundant) blessing, y Ps 21:7; tArWbG> (exceptional) strength, Jb 41:4; tAWh; y Ps 5:10 (very) wickedness; tAdWmx] Dn 9:23. (greatly) beloved; tAmxe y Ps 76:11, &c. (fierce) wrath; tApr'x] Dn 12:2 (utter) contempt; tA[vuy> (real) help, Is 26:18, &c.; taor>m; Gn 46:2 (an important) vision; ~yrIv'ym†e uprightness; tAkPuh.T; perversity; tAmq'n> (complete) vengeance, Ju 11:36, &c.; ~ykivex] and ~yKiv;x]m†; (thick) darkness; ~yrIT's.mi a (close) hiding-place; ~ydIygIn> nobility; ~ynIm'v. Is 28:1 fatness; tAxc'x.c; (complete) aridity; ~yQiT;m.m; sweetness; ~yDIm;x]m†; preciousness; ~y[ivu[]v†; delight; ~ynId'[] and ~ygInU[]T†; pleasure; ~ymix]r†; compassion; txoWnm. y Ps 23:2 rest, refreshment; tmoWhm. Am 3:9 tumult. Probably also tdoydIy> (heartfelt) love, y Ps 45:1; tArrom. (extreme) bitterness, Jb 13:26; tAmr>mi (base) deceit, y Ps 38:13; tAqd'c. (true) righteousness, Is 33:15, &c.; tAxm'v. (the highest) joy, y Ps 16:11. On the other hand, tAmk.x' wisdom (Pr 1:20, &c.) can hardly be a plural (= the essence of wisdom, or wisdom personified), but is a singular (see § 86 l).
A further extension of this plural of amplification occurs according to p. Haupt's very probable suggestion (SBOT. Proverbs, p. 40, line 50, &c.) in ~yrIaoy> the great river (of the Nile, generally raoy>) Is 7:18, 19:6 (though with the predicate in the plural), Ez 30:12, y Ps 78:44, but in Is 37:25, Ez 29:3 the usual explanation, arms or channels of the Nile, can hardly be avoided; also tArh'n> y Ps 24:2 of the ocean, which encircles the earth, 137:1 of the great river, i. e, the Euphrates, but in Is 18:1 vWk yreh]n); is evidently a numerical plural.—In Pr 16:13 ~ykil'm. (acc. to P. Haupt = the great king) is very doubtful. In yaeyfin> Ez 19:1 the second yoÖdh is evidently due to dittography, since laer'f.yI follows.

f

The summing up of the several parts of an action is expressed in ~yjinUx] embalming, ~yrIPuKi atonement, ~yaiLumi (prop. filling, sc. of the hand) ordination to the priesthood, ~yxiLuvi dismissal, ~ymiLuvi retribution, ~yxiTuPi engraving (of a seal, &c.); ~ybih'a\ fornication, ~ynIWnz> whoredom, ~ypiaun)i adultery; ~ymixun)i (prop. no doubt, warm compassion) consolation, ~ynWnx]T†; supplication, ~ydIdun> Jb 7:4 (restless) tossing to and fro, ~yail'P. wonder La 1:9, tAlle[o gleaning; perhaps also tAnIygIn> y Ps 4:1, 6:1, &c., if it means the playing on stringed instruments, and ~ynImol.v; Is 1:23 bribery, unless it be a plural of number.4

g

Of (c): the pluralis excellentiae or maiestatis, as has been remarked above, is properly a variety of the abstract plural, since it sums up the several characteristics5 belonging to the idea, besides possessing the secondary sense of an intensification of the original idea. It is thus closely related to the plurals of amplification, treated under e, which are mostly found in poetry. So especially ~yhil{a/ Godhead, God (to be distinguished from the numerical plural gods, Ex 12:12, &c.). The supposition that ~yhil{a/ is to be regarded as merely a remnant of earlier polytheistic views (i. e. as originally only a numerical plural) is at least highly improbable, and, moreover, would not explain the analogous plurals (see below). That the language has entirely rejected the idea of numerical plurality in ~yhil{a/ (whenever it denotes one God), is proved especially by its being almost invariably joined with a singular attribute (cf. § 132 h), e. g. qyDIc; ~yhil{a/ y Ps 7:10, &c. Hence ~yhil{a/ may have been used originally not only as a numerical but also as an abstract plural (corresponding to the Latin numen, and our Godhead), and, like other abstracts of the same kind, have been transferred to a concrete single god (even of the heathen).

h

To the same class (and probably formed on the analogy of ~yhil{a/) belong the plurals ~yvidq. the Most Holy (only of Yahweh), Ho 12:1, Pr 9:10, 30:3 (cf. ~yvidq. ~yhiol{a/ Jos 24:19, and the Aram. !ynIAyl.[, the Most High, Dn 7:18, 22, 25); and probably ~ypir'T. (usually taken in the sense of penates) the image of a god, used especially for obtaining oracles. Certainly in 1 S 19:13, 16 only one image is intended; in most other places a single image may be intended6; in Zc 10:2 alone is it most naturally taken as a numerical plural. In Ec 5, 7 ~yhiboG> supremus (of God) is doubtful; according to others it is a numerical plural, superiores.

i

Further, ~ynIdoa], as well as the singular !Ada', (lordship) lord, e. g. hv,q' ~ynIdoa] a cruel lord, Is 19:4; #r,a'ñh' ynEdoa] the lord of the land, Gn 42:30, cf. Gn 32:19; so especially with the suffixes of the 2nd and 3rd persons ^yn<òdoa]à%yIn:òdoa] y Ps 45:12, wyn"doa] &c., also WnynEòdoa] (except 1 S 16:16); but in 1st sing. always ynIdoa].7 So also ~yli['B. (with suffixes) lord, master (of slaves, cattle, or inanimate things; but in the sense of maritus, always in the singular), e. g. wyl'['B. Ex 21:29, Is 1:3, &c.8

k

On the other hand, we must regard as doubtful a number of participles in the plural, which, being used as attributes of God, resemble plurales excellentiae; thus, yvo'[ my Maker, Jb 35:10; %yIv;oñ[ Is 54:5; wyv'o[ y Ps 149:2; h'yv,o[ Is 22:11; ~h,yjeAn* stretching them out, Is 42:5; for all these forms may also be explained as singular, according to § 93 ss.9wyf'g>n*o Is 3:12 might also be regarded as another instance, unless it be a numerical plural, their oppressors; moreover, wym'yrIm. him who lifteth it up, Is 10:15 (but read probably AmyrIm.); wyx'l.v)o him who sendeth him, Pr 10:26, 22:21 (so Baer, but Ginsburg ^x,Lñl.v)o), 25:13 (in parallelism with wyn"doa]). These latter plurals, however (including wymyrm), may probably be more simply explained as indicating an indefinite individual, cf. o below.—For ^yr,ñm.v)o y Ps 121:5 (textus receptus) and ^ya,ñr>AB) Ec 12:1 (textus receptus) the singular should be read, with Baer.

l

Rem. 1. (a) Coherent substances, &c., are mostly regarded as single, and are, accordingly, almost always represented by nouns in the singular, cf. qb'a' fine dust, rp,aeñ ashes, dB; linen, lydIB. lead, bh'z" gold, #s,K,ñ silver, tv,xñn> brass, bl'x' milk, !yIy:ò wine, rp'[' dust, the ground, #[e wood. Plurals are, however, formed from some of these words expressing materials in order to denote separate portions taken from the whole in manufacture (plurals of the result) or parts otherwise detached from it; thus, ~yDIB; linen garments; ~ypis'K. silver pieces, Gn 42:25, 35; ~yIT;ñv.xun> (dual) fetters of brass; ~yci[e ligna (timber for building or sticks for burning); also in a wider sense, ~yliydIB. particles of alloy to be separated by smelting, Is 1:25; tArp'[] fragments of earth, Pr 8:26, cf. Jb 28:6 bh'z" trop.[; dust of gold.

m

(b) To the class of plurals of the result belong also a few names of natural products, when represented in an artificial condition; thus, ~yJixi wheat in grain (threshed wheat), as distinguished from hJ'xi wheat (used collectively) in the ear; cf. the same distinction between ~ymiS.Ku and tm,S,ñKu spelt; ~yvid'[] and hv'd'[] (the singular preserved only in the Mishna) lentils; ~yrI[of. and hr'[of. barley; also ~yTiv.Pi linen, tv,Peñ (to be inferred from yTiv.Pi) flax.

n

(c) Finally, the distinction between ~D' blood and ~ymid' requires to be specially noticed. The singular is always used when the blood is regarded as an organic unity, hence also of menstrual blood, and the blood of sacrifices (collected in the basin and then sprinkled), and in Nu 23:24 of the blood gushing from wounds. On the other hand, ~ymiD' as a sort of plural of the result and at the same time of local extension, denotes blood which is shed, when it appears as blood-stains (Is 1:15) or as blood-marks (so evidently in Is 9:4). But since blood-stains or blood-marks, as a rule, suggest blood shed in murder (although ~ymiD' also denotes the blood which flows at child-birth or in circumcision), ~ymiD' acquired (even in very early passages) simply the sense of a bloody deed, and especially of bloodguiltiness, Ex 22:1 f., &c.

o

In some few cases the plural is used to denote an indefinite singular; certainly so in Dt 17:5 ^yr,ñ['v.-la, unto one of thy gates; Zc 9:9 tAntoa]-!B, (cf. Ct 2:9); Ex 21:22 h'yd,ñl'y> (where evidently only one child is thought of, though certainly in connexion with a contingency which may be repeated); cf. also Ec 4:10 (if one of them fall).—So probably also Gn 8:4, 1 S 17:43, Dn 2:1, Neh 3:8, 6:2; but not Gn 19:29, since the same document (Gn 13:12) makes Lot dwell in the cities of the Jordan valley; in Gn 21:7 ~ynIB' denotes the class with which the action is concerned. In Ju 12:7 instead of the unusual d['l.gI yre['B. in the cities of Gilead (formerly explained here as in one of the cities of Gilead) we should most probably read, with Moore (SBOT. Judges, p. 52), d['l.gI hPec.miB. Ary[iB. in his city, in Mizpeh (in) Gilead.

p

2. When a substantive is followed by a genitive, and the compound idea thus formed is to be expressed in the plural, this is done—

(a) Most naturally by using the plural of the nomen regens, e. g. lyIx;ñ yreABGI mighty men of valour (prop. heroes of strength), 1 Ch 7:2, 9; so also in compounds, e. g. ynIymiy> ynEB. 1 S 22:7, as the plur. of ynIymiy>-!B, Benjamite; but also

q

(b) By using the plural of both nouns,10 e. g. ~yliy"x] yreABGI 1 Ch 7:5; ~yail'k. yTeb†'b.W and in prison houses, Is 42:22; cf. Ex 34:1, &c., ~ynIb'a] txolu-y*nEv. two tables of stone (but Ex 31:18 !b,a,ñ txolu); Nu 13:32, Dt 1:28, Jos 5:2, 6:4, 2 K 14:14, 25:23, Is 51:9, Jer 41:16, Ezr 3:3, &c. tAcr'a]h†' yMe[; the people of the country; 2 Ch 26:14; so perhaps ~yliae ynEB. sons of God, y Ps 29:1, 89:7 (according to others sons of gods); or finally even.

r

(c) By using the plural of the nomen rectum;11 e. g. tAba' tyBe Ex 6:14, Nu 1:2, 4 ff., &c., as plur. of ba' tyBe father's house, family; tAmB'h;tyBe the houses of the high places, 2 K 17:29 (also tAmB'h; yTeB†' 23:19); ~h,yBec;[]tyBe the houses of their idols, 1 S 31:9, Ez 46:24; cf. also Ju 7:25 the head of Oreb and Zeeb, i. e. the heads, &c.

s

Rem. When a substantive (in a distributive sense) with a suffix refers back to a plural, the singular form of the substantive suffices, since the idea of plurality is already adequately expressed by the suffix, e. g. AmyPi os (for ora) eorum, y Ps 17:10; ~n"ymiy> their right hand, y Ps 144:8 [so in the English RV.], for hands.

Footnotes:

1[3] Cf. Dietrich, 'Über Begriff und Form des hebr. Plurals,' in the Abhandl. zur hebr. Grammatik, Leipzig, 1846, p. 2 ff.

2[1] Cf. the same use of the plural in ta. ste,rna( ta. nw/ta( ta. t ra,chla, praecordia, cervices, fauces; on plurals of extension in general, cf. the prepositions of place and time in the plur. form, § 103 n. ~yrIp's. is not a case in point, in the sense of letter (properly a sheet folded into several pages; elsewhere also rp,señ 1 K 21:8 ff., 2 K 10:1, 19:14 (Is 37:14; referred to afterwards by the singular suffix); Is 39:1, Jer 29:25, 32:14 (after being folded, previously rp,señ).

3[2] cf. A. Ember, 'The pluralis intensivus in Hebrew,' AJSL. 1905, p. 195 ff.

4[1] Mayer Lambert in REJ. xxiv. 106 ff., enumerates no less than ninety-five words endillg in iÖm, which in his opinion are to be regarded as pluralia tantum.

5[2] The Jewish grammarians call such plurals tAxKoh; yWBrI plur. virium or virtutum; later grammarians call them plur. excellentiae, magnitudinis, or plur. maiestaticus. This last name may have been suggested by the we used by kings when speaking of themselves (cf. already 1 Macc. 10:19, 11:31); and the plural used by God in Gn 1:26, 11:7, Is 6:8 has been incorrectly explained in this way. It is, however, either communicative (including the attendant angels; so at all events in Is 6:8, cf. also Gn 3:22), or according to others, an indication of the fullness of power and might implied in ~yhil{a/ (see Dillmann on Gn 1:26); but it is best explained as a plural of self-deliberation. The use of the plural as a form of respectful address is quite foreign to Hebrew.

6[1] Even in Gn 31:34, notwithstanding the plural suffix in ~mefiT.w: and ~h,yle[], since the construction of these abstracts as numerical plurals is one of the peculiarities of the E-document of the Hexateuch; cf. Gn 20:13, 35:7, and § 145 i.

7[2] On yn"doa] (for ynIdoa]) as a name of God, cf. § 135 q.

8[3] Euting, Reise in Arabien, p. 61, mentions the interesting fact that the subjects of the Emir of HÍaÖyel commonly speak of their ruler as sëiyuÖkh, a plur. majestatis = the great sheikh.

9[4] %yIl;ñ[]B)o, which in Is 54:5 is in parallelism with %yIv;oñ[, must then be explained as merely formed on analogy.

10[1] Cf. König, Lehrgebäude, ii. 438 f., according to whom the plural of the principal word exercises an influence on the determining genitive.

11[1] Cf. Brockelmann, Grundriss, i. 482.