§ 138. The Relative Pronoun.

Cf. Philippi, Stat. constr. (see heading of § 89), p. 71 f., and especially V. Baumann, Hebräische Relativsätze, Leipzig, 1894.

a

Relative clauses are most frequently (but not necessarily; cf. § 155 b) introduced by the indeclinable rv,a] (see § 36).1 This is not, however, a relative pronoun in the Greek, Latin, or English sense, nor is it a mere nota relationis,2 but an original demonstrative pronoun [as though iste, istius, &c.].3 Hence it is used—

(I) In immediate dependence on the substantival idea to be defined, and virtually in the same case as it (hence belonging syntactically to the main clause); e. g. Gn 24:7 … xsl;v.yI aWh … ynIx;ñq'l. rv,a] hA'hy> the Lord, iste, he took me … he shall send, &c. (=who took me); Gn 2:2 and God finished hf'[' rv,a] ATk.al;m. his work, istud, he had made (it). Such qualifying clauses may be called dependent relative clauses.

b

Rem. 1. In the above examples rv,a] in Gn 24:7 is virtually in the nominative, in Gn 2:2 in the accusative. A further distinction between the examples is that in Gn 24:7 the main idea (hwhy), to which rv,a] is added in apposition, is only resumed in the qualifying clause by the subject (he) inherent in ynIx;ñq'l., while in Gn 2:2 it is not resumed at all. This suppression of the retrospective pronoun4 takes place especially when it (as in Gn 2:2 ) would represent an accusative of the object, or when it would be a separate pronoun representing a nominative of the subject in a noun-clause, e. g. Gn 1:7 [;qir'l†' tx;T;mi rv,a] ~yIMñ;h; the waters, those, under the firmament, &c. In negative sentences, however, the retrospective, pronoun is not infrequently added, e. g. Gn 17:12 aWh; 7:2 ayhi; 1 K 9:20 hM'heñ; Dt 20:15 hN"heñ; but cf. also yx; aWh rv,a] Gn 9:3. The addition of ayhi in a verbal clause, 2 K 22:13, is unusual.
The very frequent omission of the retrospective pronoun is noticeable in cases where the predicate of the qualifying clause is a verbum dicendi, e. g. Nu 10:29 we are journeying unto the place, ~k,l' !Tea, Atao hA'hy>rm;a' rv,a] that place, the Lord said (of it), It will I give to you; cf. Nu 14:40, Ju 8:15, 1 S 9:17, 23, 24:5, 1 K 8:29, Jer 32:43.

c

2. When the substantive, followed by rv,a] and the qualifying clause, expresses an idea of place, it may also be resumed by the adverbs of place ~v' there, hM'v'ñ thither, ~V'mi thence, e. g. Gn 13:3 hl{h\a†' ~v' hy"h'-rv,a] ~AqM'h;-d[; unto the place, that one, his tent had been there, i. e. where his tent had been; cf. Gn 3:23 ~V'mi, Ex 21:13 hM'v'ñ. But even in this case the retrospective word may be omitted, cf. Gn 35:14, Nu 20:13, Is 64:10, where ~v' would be expected, and Gn 30:38, Nu 13:27, 1 K 12:2, where hM'v'ñ would be expected.—When the appositional clause is added to a word of time, the retrospective pronoun is always omitted, e. g. 1 S 20:31 for all the days, yx; yv;yI-!B, rv,a] those—the son of Jesse is living (in them); cf. Gn 45:6, Dt 1:46, 9:7, 1 K 11:42; see Baumann, op. cit., p. 33.

d

3. If the governing substantive forms part of a statement made in the first or second person, the retrospective pronoun (or the subject of the appositional clause) is in the same person, e. g. Gn 45:4 I am Joseph, ytiao ~T,r>k;m.-rv,a] he—ye sold me, i. e. whom ye sold; Nu 22:30, Is 49:23; 41:8 thou, Jacob, rv,a] ^yTiñr>x;B. he—I have chosen thee; Jer 32:19, Ec 10:16f.; Gn 15:7 I am the Lord, ^ytiñaceAh† rv,a] he—I brought thee out, &c., Ex 20:2 (Dt 5:6).

e

(2) Not depending (adjectivally) on a governing substantive, but itself expressing a substantival idea. Clauses introduced in this way may be called independent relative clauses. This use of rv,a] is generally rendered in English by he who, he whom, &c. (according to the context), or that which, &c., or sometimes of such a kind as (qualis), cf. Ex 14:13b, and in a dependent relative clause Is 7:17. In reality, however, the rv,a] is still a demonstrative belonging to the construction of the main clause as subject or object, or as a genitive dependent on a noun or preposition, e. g. Nu 22:6 ra'Wy raoT' rv,a] iste—thou cursest (him)—is cursed, i. e. he whom thou cursest, &c.; Ex 22:8; 5 rv,a] as object, Gn 44:1, 49:1, 1 S 16:3 ff., Mi 6:1 (rv,a] tae); and even preceding the verb, e. g. Is 52:15, y Ps 69:5; rv,a] as genitive, Ez 23:28 I will deliver thee rv,a] dy:B. tanEf' into the hand of those—thou hatest (them); depending on a preposition, e. g. rv,a]l†; Gn 44:4, 2 K 10:22; rv,a]B†; Gn 21:17, ~v' aWh rv,a]B†; in that (place)—he is there, i. e. where he is; cf. Ju 17:8 and Ru 1:16 rv,a]-la, whither;6 1 K 18:12 rv,a]-l[; whither; rv,a]m†e Ex 5:11.

f

From these examples it follows that in independent relative clauses the retrospective suffix, or adverb of place, may be, and in fact generally is, omitted. As a rule, however (as in the dependent relative clause), this does not apply to cases in which the retrospective pronoun, by the construction of the sentence, depends on a preposition,7 e. g. Gn 44:9f. tmew" … ATai aceM'yI rv,a] he—it (the cup) is found with him,—shall die (for the WaÒw of the apodosis in tmew" cf. § 143 d). In such cases rv,a] preceded by the preposition is quite anomalous, as in Gn 31:32 ac'm.Ti rv,a] ~[i with whomsoever thou findest, where rv,a] is a relative pronoun in the English sense; on the other hand, in Is 47:12 (and probably also 56:4) rv,a]B†; is to be explained (with Baumann, op. cit., p. 37) by reference to 47:15, as a demonstrative pronoun, stand now with thine enchantments…, with those—thou hast laboured (with them).
[With regard to the preceding explanation of rv,a], the student will of course understand that, in Hebrew as we know it, rv,a] never occurs as a mere demonstrative. A particle which, whatever its origin, is uniformly used, with reference to something in another, contiguous clause, will naturally have acquried in practice that force which we denote by the term 'relative'.]

g

Like the original demonstrative pronoun rv,a], the demonstratives proper hz<, Az,  Wz (the last commonly),8 and sometimes the article, are used somewhat frequently in poetic language to introduce both dependent and independent relative clauses. With regard to the construction of hz<, &c., the remarks on rv,a], under a and e, also hold good.

Examples:—
(a) hz< in apposition to a governing substantive in the nominative, y Ps 104:26 T'r>c;ñy"-hz< !t'y"w>li (there is) leviathan, he—thou hast formed (him), i. e. whom thou hast formed; Is 42:24 (Wz); in the accusative, Is 25:9, y Ps 74:2 (in both cases with a retrospective pronoun; Az is used without it in y Ps 132:12); in apposition to a genitive dependent on a preposition, Pr 23:22 ^d+,l'y> hz< ^ybiña'l. [m;v. hearken unto thy father, him—he begat thee, i. e. who begat thee; y Ps 17:9 (Wz).—In y Ps 104:8 ~h,l' T'd>s;ñy" hz< ~Aqm.-la, unto the place which thou hadst founded for them (cf. § 130 c), hz< is in the genitive after the construct state ~Aqm. to the place of that, thou hadst founded (it)for them; on the same analogy we may also take, with Baumann (op. cit., p. 48), y Ps 78:54 (hz< rx;) and Ex 15:13 (T'l.a+'g" Wz-~[;), 15:16, Is 43:21, y Ps 9:16, 10:2, 31:5, 32:8, 62:12, 142:4, 143:8 (all examples of Wz).

h

To introduce independent relative clauses hz< is used as a nominative in Jb 19:19; as accusative, Jb 15:17 and Wz Hb 1:11, y Ps 68:29 (after a preposition, hz< Ex 13:8; but the text is evidently corrupt).

i

(b) More certain examples of the use of the article as a relative pronoun (more correctly, perhaps, of the demonstrative which is otherwise used as article) are 1 Ch 26:28 laeWmv. vyDIq.hih†; lKo all that Samuel had dedicated, &c.; 1 Ch 29:8 (where ac'm.nI can only be perfect NiphÇal); 2 Ch 29:36, Ezr 10:14. In connexion with a plural, Jos 10:24 the chiefs of the men of war ATai Wkl.h†'h, who went with him; Ezr 8:25, 10:17, 1 Ch 29:17. Finally, in the sense of id quod, Jer 5:13 (where, however, we should read with the LXX rb'D'h;). Cf. moreover, 1 S 9:24 the thigh h'yl,ñ['h†,w> and that which was upon it (but see k below); 2 Ch 1:4 !ykiheB†; equivalent to !ykihe rv,a]B†; to the place, that he had prepared.

k

In all the examples adduced except 1 S 9:24 (where hy"l.a;h†'w> should probably be read for h'yl,ñ['h†,w>) the h; is followed by undoubted perfects; almost all the examples, moreover, belong to the latest Books (Ezra and Chronicles). On the other hand, another series of instances (even in the older texts) is extremely doubtful, in which the Masora likewise requires perfects, either by placing the tone on the penultima, as in Gn 18:21, 46:27, Jb 2:11 ha'B'ñh; Is 51:10 hm'F'ñh;; Ez 26:17 hl'L'ñhuh†; Ru 1:22, 2:6 and 4:3 hb'V'ñh;, or by the punctuation, Gn 21:3 dl;ANh;; 1 K 11:9, Dn 8:1 ha'r>NIh;; Is 56:3 hw"l.NIh;, while no doubt the authors in all these cases intended participles (and in fact perfect participles, cf. § 116 d) with the article, thus ha'ñB'h;, &c., Ez 26:17 hl'L'huh†; for hl'L'hum.h; according to § 52 s, and in the other examples dl'ANh;àha,r>NIh;àhw<l.NIh;.

Footnotes:

1[1] The etymology of the word is still a matter of dispute. Against the identification of rv,a], as an original substantive, with the Arabic 'at_ar, trace, Aram. rt;a] place, trace, Nödeke urges (ZDMG. xl. 738) that the expression trace of &hellip; could hardly have developed into the relative conjunction, while the meaning of place has been evolved only in Aramaic, where the word is never used as a relative. According to others, rv,a] is really a compound of several pronominal roots; cf. Sperling, Die Nota relationis im Hebräischen, Leipzig, 1876, and König, Lehrgeb, ii. 323 ff., who follows Ewald and Böttcher in referring it to an original lv;a]. According to Hommel (ZDMG. xxxii. 708 ff.) rv,a] is an original substantive, to be distinguished from ·v, and ·v; (an original pronominal stem), but used in Hebrew as a nota relationis, or (as hz< and Wy) are also sometimes used, see below, g and h) simply for the relative pronoun. Baumann (op. cit., p. 44) sees in the Assyrian sëa, Phoenician, Punic, and Hebrew v,, the ground-forms, of which the Phoenician and Punic Xa (see above, § 36 note) and the Hebrew rv,a] are developments.

2[2] E. g. like Luther's use of so, in die fremden Götrer, so unter euch sind, Gn 35:2.

3[3] This is the necessary conclusion both from the analogy of the Arabic 'allad_i, which is clearly a demonstrative (like the Hebr. zL'h;àhz<L'h;), and from the use of hz< and Wz as relatives.

4[1] The instances in which, instead of a retrospective pronoun, the main idea itself is repeated (Gn 49:30, 50:13, Jer 31:32) are most probably all due to subsequent amplification of the original text by another hand.

5[2] The absolute use of rv,a] is very peculiar in the formula äyy rb;d> hy"h' rv,a] -la, this (is it)—it came as the word of the Lord to &hellip;, Jer 14:1, 46:1, 47:1, 49:34.

6[1] In Zc 12:10 also, instead of the unintelligible rXa ta yla, we should probably read rv,a]-la,, and refer the passage to this class.

7[2] Such a strong ellipse as in Is 31:6, where WNM,ñmi would be expected after !qym[h, is only possible in elevated poetic or prophetic language.

8[3] The etymological equivalent yDI, D> in Aramaic is always a relative.