III. Syntax of the Pronoun.
§ 135. The Personal Pronoun.
Rem. I. Different from this is the pleonastic addition of the separate pronoun immediately affer the verb (according to Delitzsch on Ct 5:5 perhaps a trace of popular language), e. g. 1 S 23:22 (?), Ct 5:5, and (like other indications of the very late origin of the book) very frequently in Ecclesiastes, e. g. 1:16, 2:1, 11, 15, 3:17 f. and thirteen other places; in Aramaic, Dn 5:16. b
2. Substantival subjects also are somewhat frequently resumed, and thus expressly emphasized, by the insertion of the corresponding separate pronoun of the 3rd person before the predicate is stated, e. g. Gn 3:12 the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she ( c
ayhi ) gave me, &c.; 14:24 (~he ); 15:4, 24:7, &c.; butaWh in Is 7:14 after the predicate and subject is equivalent to he himself.3
Examples of emphasis:— e
(a) On a verbal suffix by means ofynIa] ¿ ynIa'ñÀ , Gn 27:34ynIa'ñ-~g: ynIkeñr]B' bless me, eren me also (prop. bless me, I also would be blessed); Zc 7:5; cf. also Ez 6:3, 34:11, 20ynIa'ñ ynIn>hi ; byhT'a; ¿ hT'a'ñÀ Pr 22:19 (but the text is most probably corrupt).—The separate pronoun precedes in Gn 24:27 (ykinOa' ); 49:8 (hT'a; , not Judah, thou art he whom, but Judah thee, thee thy brethren shall praise !), and Ec 2:15ynIa] ~G: .
(b) On a noun-suffix with a substantive, by means of f
ynIa] 2 S 19:1; Pr 23:15; byhT'a; 1 K 21:19hT'a+'-~G: ^m.D'-ta, thy blood, even thine; byaWh 2 S 17:5, Jer 27:7, Mi 7:3; byWnx.n:ña] 1 S 20:42, afterWnynEñv. , but without special stress; Neh 5:2 (?); by~T,a; Nu 14:32; by~he y Ps 38:11 (without special stress),hM'heñ y Ps 9:7.—The separate pronoun precedes in Jb 21:4 (ykinOa' ); Gn 40:16, Is 45:12, 1 Ch 28:2 (ynOa] ); Zc 9:11 (T.a; ); Jos 23:9 (~T,a; ); Ez 33:17 (hM'heñ ).—Iny Ps 89:48, whereynIa] might be taken as strengtheningdlx (equivalent in sense toyDIl.x, ), we should readyn"doa] forynIa] , as in verse 51.
(c) On a suffix united with a preposition, 1 S 25:24 g
ynIa] yBi upon me, upon me; 1 K 1:26ynIa] … yliÈ 2 Ch 35:21hT'a; ^yl,ñ['-aol not against thee; 1 S 19:23~G: wyl'[' aWh upon him also; Dt 5:3Wnx.n:òa] WnT'ai yKi but with us, even us; Hag 1:4~T,a; ~k,l' for you yourselves; Jer 25:14hM'heñ-~G: ~B' .—The separate pronoun precedes in 1 S 12:23yli … ykinOa' ; 1 K 1:20^yl,ñ[' … hT'a; ; Mi 5:1^M.mi … hT'a; , and 2 Ch 28:10~k,M'[i ~T,a; .
The same principle also explains Gn 4:26 h
aWh-~G: tvel. to Seth, to him also (notAl-~G: ); cf. 10:21, and Ex 35:34, Nu 4:22.
Rem. There is a similar emphasis in Is 49:26 on l
~r'f'B. and~m'D' in the sense of their own flesh, their own blood. On the sometimes demonstrative, sometimes reflexive meaning of noun-suffixes of the 3rd person singular and plural, cf. § 91 p, and q. For other circumlocutions to express the idea of self, see § 139 f.
When several substantives are co-ordinated, the pronominal suffix must be attached to each singly, e. g. Gn 36:6 and Esau took-ta,w> wyn"B'-ta,w> wyv'n"-ta, wyt'nOB. his wives and his sons and his daughters, &c.; 38:18, &c. In 2 S 23:5 the text is hardly correct.
Rem. 1. Through a weakening in the distinction of gender, which is noticeable elsewhere (cf. § 110 k, 144 a, 145 p, t, u) and which probably passed from the colloquial language8 into that of literature, masculine suffixes (especially in the plural) are not infrequently used to refer to feminine substantives; thus a noun-suffix in the singular, Ex 11:6, 25:19, Ju 11:34; 9 in the plural, Gn 31:9, 32:16, 41:23, Ex 1:21, 2:17, Nu 27:7 (but the feminine suffix twice immediately after, and so the Samaritan also in verse 7); 36:6 (Samaritan o
!h,ybia] , but also~h,ynEy[eB. ); Ju 19:24, 21:22, 1 S 6:7, 10b (~h,ynEB. ); 9:20, Is 3:16, Ez 23:45 ff. (alternating with!h, ); Am 4:1f., (but afterwards a feminine suffix); Jb 1:14, 39:3 (~h,yleb.x, in parallelism with!h,ydel.y: ); 42:15, Ct 4:2, 6:6, Ru 1:8 ff. (along with feminine suffixes); Dn 1:5, 8:9. Verbal suffixes in the singular, Ex 22:25; in the plural, Ju 16:3, Pr 6:21, Jb 1:15. But Gn 26:15, 18, 33:13, Ex 2:17, 1 S 6:10a are to be explained according to § 60 h. OnhM'heñ as feminine, see § 32 n. On the use of the masculine in general as the prior gender, see § 122 g.
2. The suffix of the 3rd person singular feminine (us also the separate pronoun p
ayhi Nu 14:14, Jos 10:13, Ju 14:4) sometimes refers in a general sense to the verbal idea contained in a preceding sentence (corresponding to our it); thus the verbal suffix, Gn 15:6, Nu 23:19, 1 S 11:2, 1 K 11:12, Is 30:8, Am 8:10; cf. Gn 24:14 (HB' thereby), 42:36, 47:26, Ex 10:11 (Ht'ao that), Is 47:7. Elsewhere the suffix of the 3rd singular feminine refers to the plurals of things, e. g. 2 K 3:3 [but see Kittel; so 13:2, 6, 11; 10:26, but LXXtb;Cim; ], Jer 36:23, Jb 6:20 (if the text is correct), 39:15 (read~mex'Te in v. 14), and to the plurals of names of a animals, Is 35:7, Ezr 11:5. Conversely, plural suffixes refer to collective singulars, e. g. in Gn 15:13, Nu 16:3, 1 S 2:8, Zp 2:7 [but read~Y"h; l[; ]; and to a verbal idea contained in the preceding clause, in Ez 33:18, Jb 22:21 (~h,B' thereby), Ez 18:26, 33:19 (~h,yle[] on that account, thereby).10 But the suffix inAnt'n> Dt 21:10 refers to the collective idea contained in^yb,ñy>ao ; in Jon 1:3~h,M'[i refers to the sailors included in sense under the termhY"nIa\ . In Jos 2:4 read~nEP.c.Tiw: ; in Is 30:6 (~h,me ), 38:16,y Ps 19:5 (~h,B' ) the text is most probably corrupt.
3. In a few examples the force of the noun-suffix or possessive pronoun has become so weak that the language appears to be almost entirely unconscious of it. Thus in q
yn"doa] my Lord, usually explained as being from the pluralis maiestatis~ynIdoa] (§ 124 i) with the suffix of the 1st singular (always withQamesÌ to distinguish it fromyn:doa] my lords, Gn 19:2; but see note below), used exclusively of God, not only in addressing him (Gn 15:2, 18:3,y Ps 35:23), but ultimately (see, however, the note below), without any regard to the pronoun, as equivalent to the Lord.11 Onyn"doa] as aQereÖ perpetuum of the Masoretes forhwhy see § 17 c and § 102 m.
A similar loss of vitality in the suffix is generally assumed in r
wD'x.y: prop. in his unitedness, i. e. he &c. together, e. g.wD'x.y: ~['h'-lK' Ex 19:8; then, without regard to the suffix, even after the 1st personwD'x.y: Wnx.n:òa] 1 K 3:18 in reference to two women; Is 41:1, Jb 9:32, Neh 6:2, 7; after the 2nd person, Is 45:20, &c. But the supposed pronominal suffix is perhaps rather to be explained, with Brockelmann, ZA. xiv. 344 f., as an old adverbial ending, which survives in the Arabic adverbs in u and in Assyrian.—Cf. further~L'Ku prop. their entirety, but also after the 2nd person equivalent to all together, 1 K 22:28, Mi 1:2 (hear, ye peoples, all of you; cf. § 144 p), and even before the 2nd person, Jb 17:10 (in 1 S 6:4 read~k,l' with the LXX).—On the redundant suffix in^K.r>[,h' Lv 27:23, cf. § 127 i.
Footnotes:
1[1] Also
3[1] Analogous to this is the resumption of a noun dependent on a preposition, by means of a pronominal suffix united with the slime preposition, e. g. Gn 2:17, 2 S 6:22, 2 K 22:18, or of an object by means of the nota accusativi
5[2]
6[3] Like the substantival genitive, according to § 129 h, the possessive pronoun may also be paraphrased by a relative clause, e. g. Ru 2:21
7[1] On the other hand, more explicitly in prose, Gn 44:2
8[2] According to Diehl (see the title at the head of § 91 a), who adduces numerous instances on pp. 44 ff., 54 ff., 67 f., many of these cases may be set down to corruption of the traditional text, while the sudden (and sometimes repeated) change of gender in suffixes is mainly due to the influence exercised on the copyists by the Mishnic and popular Aramaic dialects, neither of which recognizes such distinctions. Such influence, however, is insufficient to explain the large number of instances of this weakening, occurring even in the earlier documents.
9[3] The Masora reckons six instances of
10[1] In 2 K 7:10 for