§ 134. Syntax of the Numerals.
Cf. the exhaustive statistics collected by Sven Herner, Syntax der Zahlwörter im A. T., Lund, 1893. E. König, 'Zur Syntax der Zahlwörter im A. T., ' AJSL. xviii. 129 ff.
(a) In the construct state before the substantive (the object numbered being consequently in the genitive), e. g.
Rem. In Lv 24:22, d
dx'a, follows the construct statejP;v.mi , but here as in Nu 15:16jP'v.mi should be read. In Gn 42:19,dx'a, is in apposition to a substantive with a suffix (= one of you brethren; but verse 33 the one of you brethren). In Nu 31:28dx'a, precedes the substantive in the Aramaic manner (= one each).—Forhn"v'-ha' me (Gn 17:17, &c.) we find regularly in the Priestly Code (except in Gn 17:17, 23:1)hn"v' ta;m. (Gn 5:3, &c.) an hundred years. On the connexion of abstract numerals with suffixes, as~h,ynEv. their duality, i. e. they two, Gn 2:25, &c. (also with a strengthening separate pronoun, asWnx.n:òa] WnynEòv. 1 S 20:42), cf. § 97 i.
Rem. 1. After the numerals from 11 to 19 the singular is used, as a rule, with f
~Ay day,hn"v' year,vyai man,vp,n<ò soul (person),jb,veñ tribe,hb'Cem; pillar (Ex 24:4), sometimes withhM'a; cubit,vd,xoñ month,ry[i city,lq,v,ñ shekel (compare our four-year-old, ten pound), e. g. Dt 1:2~Ay rf'[' dx;a; (cf., however, such exceptions as Dt 1:23, Jos 4:2, &c.).—Substantives other than these are used in the plural with the numerals from 11 to 19, and the numeral may even follow the substantive, especially in later passages, as Nu 7:87 f., 1 Ch 4:27, 25:5.
2. After g
ha'me ¿ ta;m. [so almost exclusively in the Priestly Code, e. g. always@l,a,ñ ta;m.Ðà tAameà ~yIt;ñam' ) and@l,a,ñ ¿ ~ypil'a]à ypel.a;à ~yIP;ñl.a; ) the substantivesvyaià @l,a,ñà hM'a; (except in Ez 40:27),~Ayà ylig>r;à dm,c,ò are regularly used in the singular, generally alsohn"v'à rK'Koà rKoà lq,v,ñ (with the exception of Jos 7:21, 2 S 14:26, &c.); cf., moreover, Gn 33:19, 24:60 (hb'b'r> ypel.a; ), Est 1:1, Ju 21:12, Dt 7:9, 1 K 5:12, 2 Ch 9:15.—Examples of the plural afterha'me are Gn 26:12, 1 S 18:25, 2 S 16:1, 1 K 18:4; afterta;m. Ex 38:27; aftertAame Ju 15:4, 2 S 8:4, 1 K 10:17, Ez 42:17; after~yIt;ñam' 1 S 25:18, 1 K 7:20; after@l,a,ñ 1 S 25:2, 1 K 3:4, 5:6, 2 K 3:4,y Ps 90:4; after~ypil'a] 1 S 17:5, Jb 42:12; afterypel.a; Mi 6:7; after~yIP;ñl.a; Is 36:8.—In Dn 12:11 the plural~ymiy" precedes the numeral twelve hundred.
Rem. 1. It may further be remarked with regard to the order, that the thousand or thousands always precede the hundreds, &c., and the hundreds almost always come before the smaller numbers (in Kings and Ezekiel sometimes, and in the Priestly Code usually, after the smaller numbers), the tens in the earlier Books (documents J and D of the Pentateuch, in Joshua 1–12, Judges, Samuel, Isaiah, and also in Ezra and Nehemiah) before the units, but in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Priestly Code, Joshua 13–24 after the units (see Herner, op. cit., p. 73). After the hundreds the smaller number is very frequently added without i
w> , especially in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel.
On the syntax of the cardinals in general:—
2. The cardinals are determined by the article, when they refer back (without being connected with the object numbered; cf., however, Lv 25:10 f., Nu 16:35, Jos 4:4, 2 S 23:13) to a number or list already mentioned, e. g. Gn 2:11 k
!AvyPi dx'a,h' ~ve the name of the one (the first) is Pishon; Gn 14:9 four kings against the five (enumerated in verse 2); cf. 1 Ch 11:20 f., and the determinate tens in Gn 18:29, 31 f. A demonstrative with the article may also be added to a numeral determined in this way, e. g. Dt 19:9 (but cf. also Gn 9:19, 22:23, where the numeral and demonstrative are practically determinate in themselves). In the case of the numerals from 11 to 19 the article may stand either before the unit (1 Ch 25:19, 27:15) or beforerf'[' (Jos 4:4); it is used before all three members of a compound number (273) in Nu 3:46.
In apposition with any determinate substantive the cardinal number is used without the article, not only when it precedes the substantive, as in Jos 15:14 ( l
qn"[]h' ynEb. hv'Alv.-ta, , wherehv'Alv. is equivalent to a substantive determinate in itself; cf. Gn 18:28, Jos 6:8, 22, 1 S 17:14, 1 K 11:31, and the passages discussed above in § 126 x, Gn 21:29, &c.), but also when it follows the substantive, e. g. 1 K 7:27, 43 f.rf,[, andhr'f'[] ; the omission of the article may here, as in the cases noticed in § 126 z, be also due to the dislike of a hiatus, but cf. also~yIn:òv. 2 K 25:16 after a determinate substantive. The fact that it is by nature determinate would also be a very simple explanation ofdx'a, Nu 28:4, 1 S 13:17 f., Jer 24:2, Ez 10:9, instead of the more usualdx'a,h' , and oftx;a; 1 S 1:2 fortx;a;h' .
Such cases as m
~ymiY"h; t[;bevi Ju 14:17 (which is determined by a following determinate genitive) are explained from § 127 b; 1 Ch 9:25 perhaps from § 126 q; in Is 30:26 probably the light of all the seven days of the week is meant; on the other hand, in 1 S 9:20 and 25:38 the article is, with Wellhausen, to be omitted.
3. Certain specifications of measure, weight, or time, are commonly omitted after numerals, e. g. Gn 20:16 n
@s,K,ñ @l,a,ñ a thousand (shekels) of silver; so also beforebh'z" Gn 24:22, 1 K 10:16, Is 7:23, cf.y Ps 119:72. Moreover, Ru 3:15~yrI[of. vve six (ephahs) of barley; 1 S 10:4~x,l,ñ-yTev. two (sc. loaves, see verse 3) of bread, cf. 17:17~x,l,ñ hr'f'[] ; 2 S 16:1, where before!yIq;ñ a measure, or perhaps some term like cakes, is to be supplied.—The number of cubits is stated in the Priestly Code (Ex 26:2, &c.) and in 1 K 6 and 7 (otherwise only in Ez 40:5, 21, 47:3. Zc 5:2, 1 Ch 11:23, 2 Ch 4:2 f.) by the addition ofhM'a;B' prop. by the cubit. Also in Ex 27:11 the Samaritan and LXX readhM'a;B' after%r,ao , and in 27:15hM'a; afterhref.[, .
Rem. In numbering days of the month and years, the cardinals are very frequently used instead of the ordinals even for the numbers from 1 to 10, e. g. p
~yIT;v. tn:v.Bi 1 K 15:25;vlv' tn:v.Bi 2 K 18:1, &c., cf. Dt 15:9. The months themselves are always numbered by the ordinals (!AvarIB'Ã ynIVeB; , &c., up toyrIyfi[]B' ), but not the days of the month, e. g.vd,xoñl; dx'a,B. Gn 8:5, &c.,h['B'r>a;B. vd,xoñl; Zc 7:1;vd,xoñl; hV'mix]B; Ez 1:1, &c.,vd,xoñl; h['b.viB. 2 K 25:8,vd,xoñl; h['v.tiB. Lv 23:32 (always, however,vd,xoñl; rf['B, on the tenth day qf the month). On the omission of~Ay in all these cases see under n; only in late passages is~Ay added, e. g. 2 Ch 29:17vd,xoñl; hn"Amv. ~AyB. ; Ezr 3:6vd,xoñl; dx'a, ~AYmi .—Finally, when the year is stated bytn:v.Bi governing a determinate ordinal, viz. 2 K 17:6ty[iyviT.h; tn:v.Bi in the ninth year; 2 K 25:1 (in Jer 52:4hn"v'B. ), Jer 28:1 Keth., 32:1 Keth., 46:2, 51:59, Ezr 7:8;tn:v.Bi in such cases is again (see note 2 on o) to be explained according to § 128 k. This is supported by the fact that the Masora on Jer 28:1, 32:1 requires in theQereÖ hn"V'B; fortnXb .
Rem. The collocation of a numeral with the next above it (either in the same or in different sentences) is a rhetorical device employed in numerical sayings to express a number, which need not, or cannot, be more exactly specified. It must be gathered from the context whether such formulae are intended to denote only an insignificant number (e. g. Is 17:6, two or at the most three), or a considerable number, e. g. Mi 5:4. Sometimes, however, this juxtaposition serves to express merely an indefinite total, without the collateral idea of intensifying the lower by means of the higher number. Thus one and two are connected by s
w> , Dt 32:30, Jer 3:14, Jb 33:14, 40:5 withoutw> ,y Ps 62:12); two and three, Is 17:6 (Sirac 23:16, 26:28, 50:25), and withoutw> , 2 K 9:32, Ho 6:2, Am 4:8; three and four, Jer 36:23, Am 1:3–11, Pr 30:18, 21:29 (Sirac 26:5), and withoutw> , Pr 30:15; four and five, withoutw> , Is 17:6; six and seven, Jb 5:19, Pr 6:16; seven and eight, Mi 5:4, Ec 11:2; (nine and ten, Sirac 25:7).
Footnotes:
1[3] Cf. § 97 a, where it is shown that the masculine is the original form of the numerals (used for both genders), and that the feminine was afterwards differentiated and used with masc. nouns, primarily in the second decade and then in the first as well.
2[4] From Herner's tables (op. cit., pp. 55–66) it appears, according to p. 68, that in the documents J, E, D of the Pentateuch, and in Jos 1–12, Judges, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, the Minor Prophets, Psalms, Megilloth, and Job, the numeral never, or very rarely, stands after its noun; in Kings and Ezekiel it stands several times after; in the Priestly Code nearly always after; in Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel, nearly as often after as before the noun. In Ex 28:10 the Masora makes the numeral in the genitive follow the construct state of the substantive numbered; we should, however, read
3[1] On examples such as Gn 46:27 (
4[1] Somewhat different from this is Ex 19:15 be ready
5[2] All these expressions may indeed be explained by supposing that, e. g. in Lv 25:10, the proper meaning is the year of he fifty years which it completed, i. e. the fiftieth year; but it is more correct to regard
6[1] But
7[2] Probably also
8[3] But