§ 132. Connexion of the Substantive with the Adjective.¹

b

Rem. 1. Where an adjectival attribute appears to stand before its substantive (according to the usual explanation, for the sake of special emphasis) the relation is really appositional in character; thus, Is 10:30 tAtn"[] hY"nI[] O thou poor one, Anathoth ! (but probably h'ynIò[] answer her, is to be read); cf. 23:12, 53:11 (a righteous man, my servant; but in 28:21 rz" and YrIk.n" are predicates preceding the substantives); Jer 3:6, 10 f., y Ps 18:4 him who is worthy to be praised will I call upon, the Lord; 92:12 (apposition after participles).—But ~yBir; and tABr; many, are sometimes placed, like numerals, before the substantive, Jer 16:16, Neh 9:28 (in y Ps 145:7 br; is a subst. regens, in 89:51 the text is corrupt) s; an appositional relation can scarcely be intended in these instances.

c

2. In a few expressions (mostly poetic) the adjective appears not as an attribute after the substantive, but in the construct state governing it; so in the singular, Ex 15:16 (unless ld,GO should be read); 1 S 16:7 (the height of his stature); in the plural, 1 S 17:40 ~ynIb'a] yqeLux; smooth ones of (among) stones, i. e. smooth stones; Is 35:9, Ez 7:24, y Ps 46:5, and with a following collective instead of a plural, e. g. Is 29:19 ~d'a' ynEAyb.a, the poor among men, i. e. poor men; Jer 49:20, Zc 11:7; cf. in Latin canum degeneres. However, in almost all these cases the adjective which is made into a regens is strongly emphatic, and is frequently equivalent to a superlative (see below, § 133 g).

d

3. When two adjectives follow a feminine, sometimes only that standing next to the noun takes the feminine termination, e. g. 1 K 19:11 hl'doG> x;Wr ä wgw qz"x'w> (but read lAdG"); 1 S 15:9 (but cf. § 75 y); Jer 20:9, y Ps 63:2. A similar dislike of the feminine form may also be observed in the case of verbal predicates referring to feminine subjects, cf. § 145 p and t.

When an attribute qualifies several substantives of different genders, it agrees with the masculine, as being the prior gender (cf. § 146 d), e. g. Neh 9:13 ~ybiAj tAc.miW ~yQixu; Jer 34:9, Zc 8:5.

When three attributes follow a substantive, the first two may stand without a conjunction, and the last be attached by waÒw copulative, cf. Zc 1:8.

e

4. After feminines plural ending in ~y¤i (§ 87 p) the adjectival attribute (in accordance with the fundamental rule stated above, under a) takes the ending tA, e. g. Is 10:14 tAbzU[] ~yciyBe forsaken eggs; Gn 32:16. For a strange exception see Jer 29:17 (differently in 24:2).

f

5. With regard to number it is to be remarked that —

(a) Substantives in the dual are followed by adjectives (or participles) in the plural, e. g. y Ps 18:28 (Pr 6:17) tAmr' ~yIn:òy[e haughty eyes; Is 35:3, Jb 4:3 f., cf. § 88 a.

g

(b) Collective ideas are not infrequently joined with the plural of the adjective or participle (constructio ad sensum); thus, e. g. !aoc sheep [with fem. plur.], Gn 30:43, 1 S 25:18; ~[;=men, 1 S 13:15, Is 9:1; laer'f.yI-lK'=all the Israelites, 1 S 2:14; tWlG"=the exiles, Jer 28:4; cf. also ~yIn"òv. vp,n<ò two souls, Gn 46:27.² Cf. similar phenomena in the connexion of collectives with plural predicates in § 145 c.

h

(c) The pluralis excellentiae or pluralis maiestatis is joined, as a rule, to the singular of the attribute, e. g. y Ps 7:10 qyDIc; ~yhil{a/; 2 K 19:4, 16 (= Is 37:4, 17); Is 19:4; but cf. ~yYIx; ~yhil{a/³ Dt 5:23, 1 S 17:26, 36, Jer 10:10, 23:36, perhaps also Ex 20:3 ~yrIxea] ~yhil{a/ = another god, and Jos 24:19 ~yvidq. ~yhil{a/ (but cf. above, § 124 g–k). On the other hand, 1 S 4:8 is to be explained as having been said by the Philistines, who supposed that the Israelites had several gods. On the connexion of ~yhil{a/ with a plural predicate, see § 145 i.

2. On the adjective (in the construct state) governing a following genitive, see § 128 x; for the participle in the same construction, see § 116 f–l.

Footnotes:

¹[2] On the expression of attributive ideas by substantives, cf. above, § 127 h, and § 128 o, with the note; § 135 n and § 141 c (substantives for adjectives as predicates of noun clauses) and § 152 u (periphrases for negative qualities). On the use or the feminine of adjectives (and participles) to express abstract ideas, see § 122 q. It remains to mention further the employment (mostly only in poetry) of certain epithets in place of the substantives to which the quality in question belongs; e. g. rybia' the strong one, i. e. God; ryBia; the strong one, i. e. the bull (in Jer 8:16, &c., the horse); lq; swift = the runner (of the horse, Is 30:16); hn"b'l. alba, i. e. luna; hY"rIP†o (fructifera) a fruitful tree, Is 17:6 (so tr'Po Gn 49:22);#bero a croucher, i. e. a crouching beast of prey, Gn 4:7. Cf. also !zEro (gravis, augustus) and ayfin" (elatus ?), i. e. a prince. The use of adjectives and participles for substantives is much more extensive in Arabic. In Greek and Latin poetical language cf. such examples as u`grh, = the sea; merum for vinum, &c.

²[1] But it is impossible to take ~miymiT. in Ez 46:6 as an attribute of rq'B'; probably it is a correction intended to harmonize the passage with Nu 28:11, where two young bullocks are required.

³[2] Cf. 1 S 28:13, where ~yhil{a/ (in the sense of a spirit) is followed by ~yli[o as a second accusative; conversely in 1 S 19:13, 16, a singular suffix refers back to ~ypir'T. household god (but not so in Gn 31:34), as in y Ps 46:4 to the plural of amplification ~yMiy: sea. On the other hand, it is vcry doubtful whether hB'r; y Ps 78:15 is to be regarded as an attribute of tAmhoT. and not rather as the adverb, abundantly.