Bible Lexicons

When a genitive, determined in any way, follows a nomen regens, it also determines the nomen regens, which, according to §89a, is always in the construct state. Moreover, every pronominal suffix attached to a substantive is, according to §33c, to be considered as a genitive determinate by nature. An independent genitive may be determinate—

(a) By its character as a proper name (according to §125a), e.g. דְּבַר יְהֹוָה‎ the word of the Lord.

(b) By having the article, e.g. אִישׁ הַמִּלְחָמָה‎ (prop. the man of the war) the soldier (but אִישׁ מִלְחָמָה‎ Joshua 17:1, a soldier); אַנְשֵׁי הַמִּלְחָמָה‎ Numbers 31:49, the soldiers; דְּבַר הַנָּבִיא‎ the word of the prophet, Jeremiah 28:9 (but e.g., on the other hand, מִצְוַת אֲנָשִׁים מְלֻמָּדָה‎ a commandment of men which hath been taught, Isaiah 29:13; דְּבַר־שָׁ֑קֶר‎ word of falsehood, Proverbs 29:12).

(c) By the addition of a pronominal suffix (see above), e.g. בֵּֽית־אָבִי‎ my father’s house.

(d) By construction with another genitive determined in some way, e.g. Genesis 3:2 מִפְּרִי עֵֽץ־הַגָּן‎ of the fruit of the trees of the garden. Thus in Isaiah 10:12 four, and in 21:17 even five, members of a series are determined by a concluding determinate genitive.

Rem. 1. The above explains also the various meanings of כֹּל‎ (prop. a substantive in the sense of aggregate, whole), according as it is followed by a determinate or indeterminate genitive. In the former case כֹּל‎ has the meaning of the entirety, i.e. all, the whole (like the French tous les hommes, toute la ville), e.g. כָּל־הָאָרֶץ‎ the whole (prop. the entirety of the) earth, כָּל־הָֽאָדָם‎ all men;^[1] Exodus 18:22, Numbers 15:13, Jeremiah 4:29, and cases like Numbers 4:23, 47, 21:8 where כָּל‎ is followed by a singular participle with the article. On the other hand, before an indeterminate genitive כֹּל‎ is used in the more indefinite (individualizing) sense of of all kinds, any (cf. tout homme, à tout prix), or distributively each, every, e.g. כָּל־עֵץ‎ every (kind of) tree, Genesis 2:9; cf. 4:22, 24:10, 1 Chronicles 29:2; כָּל־דָּבָר‎ any thing, Judges 19:19; בְּכָל־יוֹם‎ every day, every time, Psalms 7:12.

It is, however, to be observed—

(a) That the article may in this case also (see §126h) be omitted in poetic style, although the substantive is to be regarded as determinate, e.g. כָּל־שֻׁלְחָנוֹת‎ all (the) tables, Isaiah 28:8.

(b) That the meaning every is frequent even before singulars used collectively; afterwards the idea of quisque passes naturally into that of totality, e.g. כָּל־חַי‎ each living thing, i.e. every (not every kind of) living thing; כָּל־בָּשָׂר‎ all flesh, i.e. all men or all living creatures (with the article only in Genesis 7:15 before a relative clause, and in Isaiah 40:6); sometimes also כָּל־עֵץ‎ all trees, כָּל־עוֹף‎ all birds; finally—

(c) That before the names of members of the human body, כָּל־‎ frequently (as being determinate in itself) denotes the entirety, e.g. Isaiah 1:5 the whole head, the whole heart (the sense required by the context, not every head, &c., which the expression in itself might also mean); 9:11, 2 Kings 23:3, Ezekiel 29:7 all (i.e. the whole of) their shoulders... all (the whole of) their loins; 36:5.—On כֹּל‎ with a suffix when it follows a noun in apposition (e.g. Isaiah 9:8 הָעָם כֻּלּוֹ‎ the people, all of it, i.e. the whole nation, more emphatic than כָּל־הָעָם‎, cf. Driver on 2 Samuel 2:9), as well as when it follows absolutely in the genitive (= all men, every one, e.g. Genesis 16:12),^[2] see the Lexicon, pp. 481^b, 482^b.

2. Gentilic names (or patronymics), derived from compound proper names (consisting of a nomen regens and genitive), are determined by inserting the article before the second part of the compound (since it contains the original genitive), e.g. בֶּן־יְמִינִי‎ (see §86h) a Benjamite, בֶּן־הַיְמִינִי‎ Judges 3:15, &c., the Benjamite; בֵּֽית־הַלַּחְמִי‎ the Bethlehemite, 1 Samuel 16:1, &c. (cf., however, 1 Chronicles 27:12 Q^erê לַבֵּן יְמִינִי‎); בֵּֽית־הַשִּׁמְשִׁי‎ the Beth-shemite, 1 Samuel 6:14; אֲבִי הָֽעֶזְרִי‎ the Abiezrite, Judges 6:11, &c., cf. 1 Kings 16:34.

3. In a few instances the nomen regens appears to be used indefinitely notwithstanding a following determinate genitive; it is not so, however, in Genesis 16:7, where the reference is to a well-known fountain; 21:28, where in the original context there must have been some reason for the seven ewe lambs of the flock; 2 Samuel 12:30 the spoil found in the city; but it often is so before a proper name, as in Exodus 10:9 חַג יְהֹוָה‎ a feast of the Lord (unless it is the spring festival), Deuteronomy 7:25, and frequently תּֽוֹעֲבַת יְהֹוָה‎ an abomination unto the Lord; cf. also Genesis 46:34, Deuteronomy 22:19 a virgin of Israel; 1 Samuel 4:12 a man of Benjamin; Proverbs 25:1, Song of Solomon 2:1, Song of Solomon 3:9; similarly before appellatives with the article (or before a genitive determined by a suffix, as in Leviticus 14:34), 1 Samuel 20:20 three arrows; 2 Samuel 23:11 חֶלְקַת הַשָּׂדֶה‎ a plot of the ground (but see Genesis 33:19, Joshua 24:32); Judges 13:6, Jeremiah 13:4, Jeremiah 41:16, Song of Solomon 1:11, 13 f., 5:13, 7:3, 8:2. On the other hand, שִׁיר הַמַּֽעֲלוֹת‎ in the titles of Psalms 120 to 134 (except 121:1, שִׁיר לַמַּֽעֲלוֹת‎) was most probably originally the title of a collection, in the sense of ‘the pilgrimage-songs’ (according to §124r), and was subsequently added to these Psalms severally.—In Exodus 20:24 בְּכָל־הַמָּקוֹם‎ in all the place, sc. of the sanctuary, is a dogmatic correction of בְּכָל־מָקוֹם‎, in every place, to avoid the difficulty that several holy-places are here authorized, instead of the one central sanctuary. In Genesis 20:13 also כָּל־הַמָּקוֹם‎ (unless it means in the whole place) is remarkable, since elsewhere every place is always (8 times) כָּל־מָקוֹם‎.

4. The deviations mentioned under e, from a fundamental rule of syntax, are in some cases open to suspicion on textual grounds, but much more doubtful are the instances in which the article is found before a noun already determined in some other way, as—

(a) Before a noun which appears to be determined by a following independent determinate genitive. The least questionable are the instances in which the genitive is a proper name, since these may be elliptical forms of expression like the apparent construction of proper names with a genitive, noticed in §125h, e.g. Numbers 21:14 הַנְּחָלִים אַרְנוֹן‎ the valleys, namely the valleys of Arnon; 2 Kings 23:17 הַמִּזְבַּח בֵּית־אֵל‎ the altar, namely the altar of Bethel (i.e. with the suppression of the real nomen regens, מִזְבַּח‎ without the article; by the pointing הַמִּזְבַּח‎ the Masora evidently intends to allow the choice either of reading הַמִּזְבֵּחַ‎ or correcting it to מִזְבַּח‎); הָאֵל בֵּית־אֵל‎ the God of Beth-el^[3] (equivalent to הָאֵל אֵל בּ׳‎), Genesis 31:13 (the LXX read הָאֵל הַנִּרְאֶה אֵלֶיךָ כַמָּקוֹם‎ the God who appeared to thee in the holy place); הַמֶּלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר‎ the king of Assyria, Isaiah 36:16 (probably a scribal error due to verse 13; it does not occur in the parallel passage, 2 Kings 18:31), cf. Joshua 13:5, 2 Kings 25:11, Jeremiah 38:6, Ezekiel 47:15; in the vocative, Jeremiah 48:32, Lamentations 2:13. On the other hand, שָׂרָה אִמּוֹ‎ Genesis 24:67 is no doubt only a subsequent insertion; so also יִשְׂרָאֵל‎ Joshua 8:33b (cf. LXX), 2 Samuel 20:23, 2 Kings 7:13, הַמֶּ֫לֶךְ‎ 1 Samuel 26:22 after הַחֲנִיה‎ (simplified by the Masora to חֲנִית‎ Q^erê); עֲלִיַּת אָחָז‎ 2 Kings 23:12, אַשּׁוּר‎ Isaiah 36:8 (cf. 2 Kings 18:23), הַקֹּדֶשׁ‎ Ezekiel 46:19 (unless the article with לשכות‎ is to be omitted), also הַתָּמִיד‎ Daniel 8:13, and עֹדֵד הַנָּבִיא‎ 2 Chronicles 15:8. In Exodus 9:18 read with the Samaritan לְמִיּוֹם‎; in 2 Samuel 19:25 לֶ֫כֶת‎ might possibly be taken in apposition to לְמִן הַיּוֹם‎; in 2 Kings 10:1 restore אֶת־בְּנֵי‎, with the LXX and Lucian, before אַחְאָב‎; in 2 Kings 25:19 omit the article, as in Jeremiah 52:25, before סֹפֵר‎.

A similar ellipse must also be assumed in 2 Kings 23:17 the sepulchre is the sepulchre of the man of God (but most probably קֶבֶר‎ has dropped out after הַקֶּבֶר‎) and Psalms 123:4 (cf., however, the LXX, and observe that in the parallel member the genitive is paraphrased by לְ‎).—In Joshua 3:14 הַבְּרִית‎ (verse 17 בְּרִית יהוה‎) has been added to the original הָֽאָרוֹן‎ by a redactor; cf. similar syntactically impossible additions in verse 11 (also in 1 Samuel 4:3, &c., where the LXX still had simply אֲרוֹן יהוה‎); in הַיְחַד‎ Judges 16:14 the Masora evidently combines two different readings הַיָּחֵד‎ and יְתַד הָאֶרֶג‎; and similarly in Jeremiah 25:26 (where הָאָ֫רֶץ‎ was only subsequently introduced into the text), the two readings הַמַּמְלָכוֹת‎ and מַמְלְכוֹת הָא׳‎ are combined.—In Joshua 8:11, 1 Kings 14:24, Jeremiah 31:40, Ezekiel 45:16 the article, being usual after כָּל־‎, has been mechanically added, and so also in 2 Chronicles 8:16 after עַד־‎; in 2 Kings 9:4 the second הַנַּ֫עַד‎ (instead of נַ֫עַר‎) is occasioned by the first; in Ezekiel 7:7 מְהוּמָה‎ belongs as a nominative to what follows; in Ezekiel 8:29 the meaning perhaps is in the chambers, in the house of the Lord, or the article is to be omitted; in 1 Chronicles 15:27 the text is manifestly corrupt.

Of another kind are the instances in which a determinate noun is followed by a definition of the material in apposition (hence, not in the genitive; cf. § 131), e.g. Zechariah 4:10 הָאֶ֫בֶן הַבְּדִיל‎ the weight, the lead, i.e. the leaden weight; Exodus 39:17, 2 Kings 16:14 (הַנְּח֫שֶׁת‎, both here and in verse 17, is probably only a later addition, while המסגרות המכנות‎ in verse 17 has arisen from a confusion of two readings, מסגרות המכנות‎ and המסגרות מֵהמכנות‎). In Jeremiah 32:12 also הַמִּקְנָה‎ (unless the article is simply to be omitted) is in apposition to הַסֵּפֶר‎.

(b) Before a noun with a suffix (which likewise represents a determinate genitive; see above, at the beginning of this section). This does not apply to cases in which a verbal (i.e. accusative) suffix is affixed to a participle which has the article, e.g. הַמַּכֵּ֫הוּ‎ Isaiah 9:12, the one smiting him; in Deuteronomy 8:15, Deuteronomy 13:6 also ךָ‎ is a verbal suffix, but hardly the וֹ‎ in הָֽעֹשׂוֹ‎ for הָֽעֹשֵׂ֫הוּ‎ Job 40:19, nor the ־ָהּ‎ in הַיֹּֽלְדָהּ‎ Daniel 11:6; §116g. For הָֽעֶרְכְּךָ‎ Leviticus 27:23, read עֶרְכְּךָ‎ as in verses 2, 3, 5, 7, 13, &c., twelve times (but cf. also the note on §128d).—Of the remaining examples כַּגְּבִרְתָּהּ‎ Isaiah 24:2 (probably an intentional alliteration with the eleven other words beginning with כַּ‍‎), לַמַּֽעֲנֵ֫הוּ‎ Proverbs 16:4, and בֶּֽעָרֵ֫ינוּ‎ (so Baer, following the best authorities) Ezra 10:14, rest only on the authority of the Masoretes, not of the authors. So also in הָאָֽהֳלִי‎ Joshua 7:21, הַֽחֶצְיוֹ‎ Joshua 8:33 (previously חֶצְיוֹ‎), הֶהָֽרוֹתֶ֫יהָ‎ 2 Kings 15:16 (dittography of the ה‎), the article is simply to be omitted as syntactically impossible; the ו‎ of הַדָּבְרוֹ‎ Micah 2:12 is the copula belonging to the next word.