Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar/126. Determination by Means of the Article

by Wilhelm Gesenius

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§126. Determination by Means of the Article.

a 1. The article (הַ·, הָ, הֶ, § 35) was originally, as in other languages (clearly in the Romance; cf. also ὁ, ἡ, τό in Homer), a demonstrative pronoun. The demonstrative force of the article, apart from its occasional use as a relative pronoun (see § 138 i), appears now, however, only (a) in a few standing phrases, and (b) in a certain class of statements or exclamations.

b (a) Cf. הַיּוֹם this day, hodie (§ 100 c.); הַלַּ֫יְלָה this night, Gn 19; הַפַּ֫עַם this time, Gn 2; הַשָּׁנָה this year (= in this year) Is 37, Jer 28.

(b) includes those instances in which the article, mostly when prefixed to a participle, joins on a new statement concerning a preceding noun. Although such participles, &c., are no doubt primarily regarded always as in apposition to a preceding substantive, the article nevertheless has in some of these examples almost the force of הוּא (הִיא, הֵ֫מָּה) as the subject of a noun-clause; e.g. ψ 19 the judgements of the Lord are true..., verse 11 הַנֶּֽחֱמָדִים וג׳ prop. the more to be desired than gold, i.e. they are more to be desired, or even they, that are more to be desired,^[1] &c.; cf. Gn 49, Is 40 f., 44:27 f., 46:6, Am 2, 5, ψ 33, 49 (הַבֹּֽטְחִים in the parallel half of the verse continued by a finite verb); ψ 104, Jb 6, 28, 30, 41 and frequently. When such a participle has another co-ordinate with it, the latter is used without the article, since according to the above it strictly speaking represents a second predicate, and as such, according to i, remains indeterminate; e.g. Jb 5 who giveth (הַנֹּתֵן) rain, &c. and sendeth וְשֹׁלֵחַ &c.

c The article is sometimes used with similar emphasis before a substantive, which serves as the subject of a compound sentence (§ 140 d); e.g. Dt 32 הַצּוּר תָּמִים פָּֽעֳלוֹ i.e. as a fresh statement (not in apposition to the preceding dative), really equivalent to he is a rock, perfect in his work (i.e. whose work is perfect); cf. ψ 18.

d 2. The article is, generally speaking, employed to determine a substantive wherever it is required by Greek and English; thus:

(a) When a person or thing already spoken of is mentioned again, and is consequently more definite to the mind of the hearer or reader; e.g. Gn 1 and God said, Let there be light: verse 4 and God saw the light (אֶת־הָאוֹר); 1 K 3 fetch me a sword: and they brought the sword; Ec 9. (In 2 S 12 therefore לֶֽעָשִׁיר must be read.) (b) With a title understood and recognized by every one, e.g. הַמֶּ֫לֶךְ שְׁלֹמהֹ ὁ βασιλεὺς Σαλωμών: Gn 35 under the oak (the well-known oak which was there).

(c) With appellatives to denote persons or natural objects which are unique, e.g. הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל the high priest, הַשֶּׁ֫מֶשׁ the sun, הָאָ֫רֶץ the earth.

e (d) When terms applying to whole classes are restricted (simply by usage) to particular individuals (like ὁ ποιητής, meaning Homer) or things, e.g. שָׂטָן adversary, הַשָּׂטָן the adversary, Satan; בַּ֫עַל lord, הַבַּ֫עַל Baal as proper name of the god; הָֽאָדָם the (first) man, Adam; הָאֱלֹהִים^[2] or הָאֵל ὁ θεός, the one true God (cf. also ὁ Χριστός in the New Testament); also הַנָּהָר the river, i.e. Euphrates; הַכִּכָּר the circle, sc. of the Jordan, the Jordan plain [Gn 19, &c.].

(e) Very often with the vocative, e.g. 2 S 14 הוֹשִׁ֫עָה הַמֶּ֫לֶךְ help, O king; Zc 3 יְהוֹשֻׁעַ הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל O Joshua the high priest; 1 S 17, 24, 2 K 9; in the plural, Is 42, Jo 1, 13; but cf. also Jos 10, Is 1, 49 (שָׁמַ֫יִם and אֶ֫רֶץ); 23:16, Ho 13, Jo 1, ψ 34, Ec 10, 11, &c.^[3] The vocative occurs without the article in Is 22, since it has been already defined by a preceding accusative.

f Rem. Strictly speaking in all these cases the substantive with the article is really in apposition to the personal pronoun of the 2nd person, which is either expressly mentioned or virtually present (in the imperative), e.g. 1 S 17 thou, the young man. But such passages as Is 42, where the vocative precedes the imperative, prove that in such cases the substantive originally in apposition eventually acquired the value of a complete clause.

g (f) With words denoting classes (see particulars under l).

(g) In a peculiar way, to specify persons or things, which are so far definite as to be naturally thought of in connexion with a given case, and must be assumed accordingly to be there (see q–s).

(h) With adjectives (also ordinal numbers and demonstrative pronouns used adjectivally) which are joined to substantives determined in some way (see u).

h Rem. The article may be omitted in poetry in all the above-mentioned cases; in general it is used in poetry far less frequently than in prose. Its use or omission probably often rests on rhythmical grounds;^[4] it is sometimes omitted also for rhetorical reasons. Cf. e.g. אֶ֫רֶץ for הָאָ֫רֶץ ψ 2; מְלָכִים as vocative, verse 10; מֶ֫לֶךְ for הַמֶּ֫לֶךְ 21:2; שִׁמְךָ גָּדוֹל וְנוֹרָא (contrary to u, v) 99:3. In the instances in which the ה of the article is omitted after a prefix (§ 35 n), the vowel of the article is often retained after the prefix even in poetry, e.g. בַּשָּׁמַ֫יִם ψ 2, &c. i (i) On the other hand, the article is always omitted when a person or thing is to be represented as indefinite (or indefinable) or as yet unknown; consequently also before the predicate, since this is from its nature always a general term, under which the subject is included, e.g. Gn 29 עוֹד הַיּוֹם גָּדוֹל as yet the day is great, i.e. it is yet high day; 33:13, 40:18, 41:26, Is 66.

k Rem. 1. As exceptions to the above rule it is usual to regard those examples in which a determinate adjective or participle (equivalent to a relative clause) is used apparently as a predicate, e.g. Gn 2 הוּא הַסֹּבֵב it is the compassing, i.e. that is it which compasseth; 42:6, 45:12, Ex 9, Dt 3, 8, 11, 1 S 4, Is 14, Mal 3 (cf. in Greek, e.g. St. Mat. 10:20, where Winer, Gram. des neutest. Sprachidioms, § 58, 2, Rem., explains οἱ λαλοῦντες as a predicate with the article). In reality, however, these supposed predicates are rather subjects (acc. to § 116 q), and the only peculiarity of these cases is that the subject is not included under a general idea, but is equated with the predicate.

2. Sometimes the article is used with only one of two parallel words, as Na 1 חָרִים and הַגְּבָעוֹת, 2 Ch 3 מִיָּמִין and מֵֽהַשְּׂמֹאול.

l 3. The use of the article to determine the class is more extensive in Hebrew than in most other languages. In this case the article indicates universally known, closely circumscribed, and therefore well defined classes of persons or things. The special cases to be considered are—

m (a) The employment of general names as collectives in the singular, to denote the sum total of individuals belonging to the class (which may, however, be done just as well by the plural); e.g. the righteous, the wicked man, Ec 3; the woman, i.e. the female sex, 7:26; הָֽאֹיֵב the enemy, i.e. the enemies (?) ψ 9; הָֽאֹרֵב the liers in wait, i.e. the liers in wait; הֶֽחָלוּץ the armed man, i.e. soldiers; הַֽמְאַסֵּף the rearguard; הַמַּשְׁחִית the spoiler, 1 S 13;^[5] so also (as in English) with names of animals, when something is asserted of them, which applies to the whole species, e.g. 2 S 17 as the courage of הָֽאַרְיֵה the lion. Especially also with gentilic names, e.g. the Canaanite, Gn 13 (cf.15:19 ^f.); so in English the Russian, the Turk, &c., in Attic writers ὁ Ἀθηναῖος, ὁ Συρακόσιος, &c.

n (b) Names of materials known everywhere, the elements and other words denoting classes, even though only a part and not the whole of them is considered, in which case in other languages, as e.g. in English, the article is usually omitted (cf., however, our to fall into the water, into the fire, &c.), e.g. Gn 13 and Abram was very rich בַּמִּקְנֶה בַּבֶּסֶף וּבַוָּהָב in cattle, in silver and in gold; Jos 11 and he burnt their chariots בָּאֵשׁ with fire; cf. Gn 6, 41 (unless this means, the chain necessarily belonging to the official dress); Ex 2, 3 (35:32), Is 1, &c., and בַּשָּׁמֶן with oil^[6] very commonly in the sacrificial laws, Ex 29, &c., and also Dt 33, 2 S 1, Is 1, ψ 23, &c. Similarly the article is used with terms of measurement, as הָֽאֵפָה Ex 16, &c.: הַחֹמֶר and הַבַּת Ez 45; הָעֹ֫מֶר Ex 16; בַּחֶ֫בֶל 2 S 8.

(c) The expression of abstract ideas of every kind, since they are likewise used to represent whole classes of attributes or states, physical or moral defects, &c.; e.g. Pr 25 (בַּצֶּ֫דֶק); Gn 19 and they smote the men... בַּסַּנְוֵרִים with blindness; Am 4, &c.; but in הַח֫שֶׁךְ Is 60 the article is no doubt due to dittography of the ה, and the parallel וַֽעֲרָפֶל has no article.

o (d) Comparisons, since the object compared is treated not (as usually in English) individually but as a general term, e.g. Is 1 white כַּשֶּׁ֫לֶג as snow, כַּצֶּ֫מֶר as wool; red כַּתּוֹלָע like crimson; Is 34 and the heavens shall be rolled together כַּסֵּפֶר as a scroll; cf. Nu 11, Ju 8, 16 as פְּתִיל־הַנְּעֹרֶת a string of tow is broken; 1 S 26, 1 K 14, Is 10, 24, 27, 29, 53, Na 3, ψ 33, 49; cf. also such examples as Gn 19, Ju 14, where the object compared is determined by a determinate genitive which follows (according to § 127 a).

p Examples of indeterminate comparisons are rare, and perhaps due only to the Masora,—so at least in the case of singulars, while in such plurals as those in Gn 42, 1 K 10, Jo 2, 7, the omission of the article may be explained by the ordinary rules. On the other hand, the article is regularly omitted when the object compared is already defined by means of an attribute (or relative clause, Jer 23, ψ 17), e.g. Is 16 כְּעוֹף נוֹדֵד קֵן מְשֻׁלָּח as wandering birds, (as) a scattered nest (but cf. 10:14 כַּקֵּן); 14:19, 29:5 כְּמֹץ עֹבֵר (but ψ 1 כַּמֹּץ); Jer 2, Pr 27, Jb 29, 30.—In comparisons with persons also the Masora seems to avoid the use of the article, as in כְּגִבּוֹר Jb 16 and seven other places (כַּגִּכּוֹר only in Is 42), כְּאָב Jb 31, כְּגֶ֫בֶר Jb 38, 40.

q 4. Peculiar to Hebrew^[7] is the employment of the article to denote a single person or thing (primarily one which is as yet unknown, and therefore not capable of being defined) as being present to the mind under given circumstances. In such cases in English the indefinite article is mostly used.

r Thus Am 5 as if a man did flee from a lion (הָֽאֲרִי, i.e. the particular lion pursuing him at the time), and a bear (הַדֹּב) met him, &c., cf. 3:12, 1 K 20 (John 10:12); also Gn 8 f., 14:13 (הַפָּלִיט, i.e. one that had escaped, the particular one who came just then; so also Ez 24, 33; cf. 2 S 15); Gn 15, 11 18:7 the servant, who is regarded as being constantly at hand and awaiting his commands; cf. 2 S 17 (but הַנַּ֫עַר Nu 11 is used like הַפָּלִיט above); Gn 19, unless בַּמְּעָרָה means in the well-known cave; בַּמָּקוֹם Gn 28, according to Dillmann, upon the place suitable for passing the night, or the right place, but it may possibly also refer to the sanctuary of Bethel afterwards so sacred and celebrated; Gn 42, 46, 50, Ex 2, 3, 4, 21 (2 S 23), Lv 23, 24 (Samaritan יִשְׂרְאֵלִי without the article); Nu 17, 21, 9, 25:6, Dt 19, Jos 2, Ju 4, 8, 13, 16, 19, 20, 1 S 17, 19, 21, 2 S 17, 1 K 6, 13 (? most probably a particular tree is meant); 19:9, Is 7 (הָֽעַלְמָה, i.e. the particular maiden, through whom the prophet’s announcement shall be fulfilled; we should say a maiden [cf. Driver on 1 S 1, 6, 19]; Jb 9.

s So always to write in the book (or on the scroll, Nu 5, Jer 32), i.e. not in the book already in use, but in the book which is to be devoted to that purpose, equivalent to in a book, on a scroll, Ex 17, 1 S 10, Jb 19. Especially instructive for this use of the article is the phrase וַיְהִי הַיּוֹם, which does not simply refer back to the previous narrative in the sense of the same day, but is used exactly like our one day (properly meaning on the particular day when it happened, i.e. on a certain day), 1 S 1, 14, 2 K 4, 11, Jb 1, 13. In Gn 39 even כְּהַיּוֹם הַזֶּה.

t The article is sometimes used in this way before collectives in the singular, which are not meant to denote (like the examples given under l) a whole class, but only that part of it which applies to the given case; thus הָֽעֹרֵב, הַיּוֹנָה Gn 8, הַצִּרְעָה Ex 23.

u 5. When a substantive is defined by the article, or by a suffix, or by a following genitive determinate in any way (see the examples below), the attribute belonging to it (whether adjective, participle, ordinal, or demonstrative pronoun) necessarily takes the article (see, however, the Rem.), e.g. Gn 10 הָעִיר הַגְּדֹלָה the great city; Dt 3 יָֽדְךָ הַֽחֲזָקָה thy strong hand. A genitive following the substantive may, according to § 127 a, be determined either by the article, e.g. 1 S 25 אִישׁ הַבְּלִיַּעַל הַוֶּה this worthless man (prop. man of worthlessness; cf. also such examples as 2 Ch 36, where the article is prefixed only to a second genitive following the noun); or as a proper name, e.g. Dt 11 מַֽעֲשֵׂה יְהֹוָה הַגָּדֹל the great work of the Lord; or by a suffix, e.g. Is 36 עַבְדֵי אֲדֹנִי הַקְּטַנִּים the least of my master’s servants.

v When several attributes (whether connected by Wāw or not) follow a determinate substantive, each of them takes the article, e.g. Dt 10 הָאֵל הַגָּדֹל הַגִּבֹּר וְהַבּוֹרָא the great God, the mighty, and the terrible. Cf. also Ex 3, Dt 1, in both of which places a demonstrative with the article also follows the adjective.^[8]

Rem. 1. The article is, however, not infrequently used also—

w (a) With the attribute alone, when it is added to an originally indefinite substantive as a subsequent limitation; so always with ordinal numbers after יוֹם,^[9] e.g. Gn 1 (cf. 2:3, Ex 20, &c.) יוֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁי the sixth day (prop. a day namely the sixth; but יוֹם שֵׁנִי a second day, Gn 1); Ex 12 מִיּוֹם הָֽרִאשֹׁן from the first day onward (not before Dn 10 and Neh 8 is מִן־הַיּוֹם הָֽרִאשׁוֹן used instead of it). On the other hand, the article is always found after בְּ, hence בַּיּוֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁי, &c., although it is possible that the original reading in these cases was בְּיוֹם, and that the article is only due to the Masora. In Ju 6 the text is evidently corrupt (see verse 26).—Especially also in certain frequently recurring combinations as in particularizing the gates in Jer 38, Ez 9, &c., Zc 14, and courts in 1 K 7, 12, &c., Ez 40; and very often when the attribute consists of a participle, e.g. Dt 2, Ju 21, 1 S 25, Jer 27, 46 חֶ֫רֶב הַיּוֹנָה the sword which oppresses (?); Ez 14, Zc 11 K^eth. (the impenetrable forest?) Pr 26, ψ 119.

x Of the other examples, Gn 21 (where, however, the Samaritan reads הכבשות), 41:26 (but cf. verse 4), Nu 11, Ju 16, 1 S 17 may at any rate be explained on the ground that the preceding cardinal number is equivalent to a determinant; in Gn 1, 28, 10, &c., the substantive is already determined by כָּל־, and in 1 S 14 (דְּבַשׁ) by מְעַט.—In 1 S 12, 2 S 12, Is 7 (where, however, הַשְּׂכִירָה might also be understood as a subsequent explanation of בְּתַ֫עַר) and Neh 9, the omission of the article after the preposition is certainly due merely to the Masora. In 1 S 16 (unless רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים is to be read twice), Zc 4 (where however אַתָּ הָהָר is probably meant), ψ 104 (where a ה precedes הָרִים, hence probably a case of haplography), the omission of the article before א, ר (?) and ה may be due to a regard for euphony (see z below). On the other hand, in 1 S 6 (read הָאֶ֫בֶן הַגְּ׳), 17:12 (הַזֶּה is a later addition), 19:22 (cf. the LXX), Jer 17, 32, 40 K^eth., Ez 2 (read גּוֹי or omit גּוֹיִם with Cornill), Mi 7, ψ 62, either the text is corrupt, or the expression incorrect. But in 2 K 20, Jer 6, Ct 7 acc. to D. H. Müller (Anzeiger der Wiener Akad., phil-hist. Kl. 1902, no. x) הַטּוֹב is the genitive of a substantive, aromatic oil, sweet cane (in Jer 6 read וּקְנֵה), like spiced wine. In Is 39 read שֶׁ֫מֶן הַטּוֹב and in ψ 133 כְּשֶׁ֫מֶן חַטּ׳.

y (b) No article with the attribute, while the substantive is determined either by the article, or a suffix, or a following genitive. Thus the article is sometimes omitted with demonstratives, since they are already to a certain extent determined by their meaning (cf. also the Mêšaʿ inscription, l. 3, הבמת זאת this high place); as with הוּא Gn 19 (evidently for euphony, and so probably often); 30:16, 32:23, 1 S 19; with הִיא Gn 38; with זוּ ψ 12 (according to the Masora זוּ is a relative pronoun here, as always elsewhere); with אֵ֫לֶּה 1 S 2, according to the present corrupt text (the original reading כָּל־עַם יהוה became כָּל־עַם אֱלֹהִים, and אֱלֹהִים was then corrupted to אֵלֶּה); so, almost without exception, when the substantive is determined only by a suffix, e.g. Jos 2, Ju 6, 1 K 10, 2 K 1 and 8:8 f., where חלי, as in Jer 10, has arisen by contraction from חָלְיִי, or we should simply read חָלְיִ (in all these passages with זֶה); Gn 24 (with זֹאת); Ex 10, 1 K 22, Jer 31 (with אֵ֫לֶּה).

The article is sometimes omitted also with the attributes referring to proper names,^[10] as צִידוֹן רַבָּה Jos 11, 19, חֲמָת רַבָּה Am 6. Other examples are Jos 16, 5, 18:13, 1 K 9 (but in 1 Ch 7, 2 Ch 8 with the article). In Gn 7, &c., תְּהוֹם רַבָּה is also a case of this kind, תְּהוֹם being used (almost always without the article) as a sort of proper name; cf. also אֵל עֶלְיוֹן the most high God and אֱלֹהִים חַי the living God. In Ju 1 גֻּלּתֹ עִלִּית and גּ׳ תַּחְתִּית are strange; Jos 15 has גּ׳ עִלִּיּוֹת and גּ׳ תַּחְתִּיּוֹת.

z Of the remaining examples Is 11 explains itself; the direct connexion of the attribute with its substantive is broken by the insertion of לַיָּם. In Ez 34, Hag. 1:4 (as Wellhausen says, a good instance of a Hebrew adjective in the stative form = וְהֵם סְפוּנִים), ψ 143, Ct 6 (?) the substantive is also (see above) determined by a suffix, and consequently the attribute is less closely attached; the same applies to Gn 37, 42, 43, ψ 18, except that in these passages the omission of the article before ר, א, ע may at the same time be due to considerations of euphony (as also in Jos 16 before ע, Nu 14 before ר, 28:4, Ez 10 before א, 21:19 before ח).^[11] In 1 S 13 f. (אֶחָד) and 2 K 25 (שְׁנַ֫יִם after a determinate substantive), the attribute again, being a numeral, is determinate in itself (see above, x); in Is 65 the לֹא prevents the use of the article; finally, in 2 Ch 26 בְּחִצִּים and בַּֽאֲבָנִים are to be read, as in Jer 2 גֶּ֫פֶן for הַגֶּ֫פֶן, in 22:26 אֶ֫רֶץ for הָאָ׳; in 2 S 6 omit חֲדָשָׁה, and in Ez 39 omit רַבִּים. Without any apparent reason the article is omitted in Dn 8 and 11:31.

aa 2. When, as in Mi 7 (יוֹם הוּא in that day?), the article is omitted from both substantive and demonstrative, and in Ezr 3, the demonstrative even precedes (זֶה חַבַּ֫יִת=הַבַּ֫יִת הַזֶּה), this is obviously due in both cases to a radical corruption of the text (not only in the words quoted). In Jos 9 לַחְמֵ֫נוּ is either in apposition to the independent demonstrative זֶה (= this our bread, &c.), as in verse 13 נֹאדוֹת is to אֵ֫לֶּה, or they are complete sentences, this is our bread, &c. So also in Ex 32 משֶׁה (= that [iste] Moses, &c.), and in ψ 48 אֱלֹהִים are to be taken in apposition to זֶה. On ψ 68 and Is 23 cf. § 136 d.

1. On the analogous use of the article before participles which have a verbal suffix, as in ψ 18, &c., cf. above, § 116 f.
2. On the subsequent change of שָׂטָן, אָדָם, אֱלֹהִים into real proper names by the omission of the article, cf. above, § 125 f.
3. For further exceptions see Nestle, ZAW. 1904, p. 323 ff.
4. Cf. the useful statistics of J. Ley in the Neue Jahrbücher für Philologie und Pädagogik, 2te Abteilung, 1891, Heft 7–9, and M. Lambert, ‘ L’article dans la po&ésie hébr.,’ REJ. 37, 263 ff.
5. But in Ex 12 המ׳ is either to be explained as the destroyer (now mentioned for the first time) according to q, or a particular angel is meant whose regular function it was to inflict punishments. Others again take המ׳ even in Ex 12 impersonally = destruction.
6. In nearly all the above examples the presence of the article is only indicated by the vowel of the prefix (בַּ, כַּ‍, לַ) and might therefore be merely due to the masoretic punctuation. There is, however, no reason to doubt the correctness of the tradition. The same is true of the examples under n and o.
7. Cf., however, analogous examples in biblical Aramaic in Kautzsch’s Gramm. des Bibl. Aram., 79 f, e.g. Dn 2, 3, &c.
8. The demonstrative used adjectivally is generally placed after the adjective proper; in such cases as עַמְּךָ הַזֶּה הַגָּדוֹל 2 Ch 1 the adjective forms a further (fresh) addition to עַמְּךָ הַזֶּה.
9. Cf. Driver, Tenses, 3rd ed., 209; M. Lambert, REJ. 31, 279 f.—The omission of the article from the substantive is not to be regarded in this instance as an indication of late style, and consequently cannot be put forward as a proof of the late origin of the ‘Priestly Code’ (cf. Dillmann on Gn 1, Holzinger, Einl. in d. Hexateuch, p. 465, and especially Driver in the Journal of Philology, xi. 229 f., against Giesebrecht in ZAW. 1881, p. 265 f.). On the other hand, the common omission of the article from the substantive before a determinate adjective (e.g. כְּנֵ֫סֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה the great synagogue, in the Mishna; cf. Segal, Mišnaic Hebrew, p. 19 ff.) is certainly a later idiom.
10. Cf. Nöldeke, Beiträge zur semit. Sprachwiss., p. 48, n. 1.
11. The same reason no doubt also favoured the omission of the article before הוּא and אֵ֫לֶּה, see above, under y. Also in Is 23 (is this your joyous...?) the article is omitted before עַלִּיזָה probably only for euphony.