Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar/127. The Noun determined by a following Determinate Genitive

by Wilhelm Gesenius

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§127. The Noun determined by a following Determinate Genitive.

Brockelmann, Grundriss, i. 475.

a When a genitive, determined in any way, follows a nomen regens, it also determines the nomen regens, which, according to § 89 a, is always in the construct state. Moreover, every pronominal suffix attached to a substantive is, according to § 33 c, 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 § 125 a), 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 Jos 17, a soldier); אַנְשֵׁי הַמִּלְחָמָה Nu 31, the soldiers; דְּבַר הַנָּבִיא the word of the prophet, Jer 28 (but e.g., on the other hand, מִצְוַת אֲנָשִׁים מְלֻמָּדָה a commandment of men which hath been taught, Is 29; דְּבַר־שָׁ֑קֶר word of falsehood, Pr 29).

(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. Gn 3 מִפְּרִי עֵֽץ־הַגָּן of the fruit of the trees of the garden. Thus in Is 10 four, and in 21:17 even five, members of a series are determined by a concluding determinate genitive.

b 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] Ex 18, Nu 15, Jer 4, and cases like Nu 4, 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, Gn 2; cf. 4:22, 24:10, 1 Ch 29; כָּל־דָּבָר any thing, Ju 19; בְּכָל־יוֹם every day, every time, ψ 7.

c It is, however, to be observed—

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

(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 Gn 7 before a relative clause, and in Is 40); 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. Is 1 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 K 23, Ez 29 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. Is 9 הָעָם כֻּלּוֹ the people, all of it, i.e. the whole nation, more emphatic than כָּל־הָעָם, cf. Driver on 2 S 2), as well as when it follows absolutely in the genitive (= all men, every one, e.g. Gn 16),^[2] see the Lexicon, pp. 481^b, 482^b.

d 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 § 86 h) a Benjamite, בֶּן־הַיְמִינִי Ju 3, &c., the Benjamite; בֵּֽית־הַלַּחְמִי the Bethlehemite, 1 S 16, &c. (cf., however, 1 Ch 27 Q^erê לַבֵּן יְמִינִי); בֵּֽית־הַשִּׁמְשִׁי the Beth-shemite, 1 S 6; אֲבִי הָֽעֶזְרִי the Abiezrite, Ju 6, &c., cf. 1 K 16.

e 3. In a few instances the nomen regens appears to be used indefinitely notwithstanding a following determinate genitive; it is not so, however, in Gn 16, 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 S 12 the spoil found in the city; but it often is so before a proper name, as in Ex 10 חַג יְהֹוָה a feast of the Lord (unless it is the spring festival), Dt 7, and frequently תּֽוֹעֲבַת יְהֹוָה an abomination unto the Lord; cf. also Gn 46, Dt 22 a virgin of Israel; 1 S 4 a man of Benjamin; Pr 25, Ct 2, 3; similarly before appellatives with the article (or before a genitive determined by a suffix, as in Lv 14), 1 S 20 three arrows; 2 S 23 חֶלְקַת הַשָּׂדֶה a plot of the ground (but see Gn 33, Jos 24); Ju 13, Jer 13, 41, Ct 1, 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 § 124 r), and was subsequently added to these Psalms severally.—In Ex 20 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 Gn 20 also כָּל־הַמָּקוֹם (unless it means in the whole place) is remarkable, since elsewhere every place is always (8 times) כָּל־מָקוֹם.

f 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 § 125 h, e.g. Nu 21 הַנְּחָלִים אַרְנוֹן the valleys, namely the valleys of Arnon; 2 K 23 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׳), Gn 31 (the LXX read הָאֵל הַנִּרְאֶה אֵלֶיךָ כַמָּקוֹם the God who appeared to thee in the holy place); הַמֶּלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר the king of Assyria, Is 36 (probably a scribal error due to verse 13; it does not occur in the parallel passage, 2 K 18), cf. Jos 13, 2 K 25, Jer 38, Ez 47; in the vocative, Jer 48, La 2. On the other hand, שָׂרָה אִמּוֹ Gn 24 is no doubt only a subsequent insertion; so also יִשְׂרָאֵל Jos 8b (cf. LXX), 2 S 20, 2 K 7, הַמֶּ֫לֶךְ 1 S 26 after הַחֲנִיה (simplified by the Masora to חֲנִית Q^erê); עֲלִיַּת אָחָז 2 K 23, אַשּׁוּר Is 36 (cf. 2 K 18), הַקֹּדֶשׁ Ez 46 (unless the article with לשכות is to be omitted), also הַתָּמִיד Dn 8, and עֹדֵד הַנָּבִיא 2 Ch 15. In Ex 9 read with the Samaritan לְמִיּוֹם; in 2 S 19 לֶ֫כֶת might possibly be taken in apposition to לְמִן הַיּוֹם; in 2 K 10 restore אֶת־בְּנֵי, with the LXX and Lucian, before אַחְאָב; in 2 K 25 omit the article, as in Jer 52, before סֹפֵר.

g A similar ellipse must also be assumed in 2 K 23 the sepulchre is the sepulchre of the man of God (but most probably קֶבֶר has dropped out after הַקֶּבֶר) and ψ 123 (cf., however, the LXX, and observe that in the parallel member the genitive is paraphrased by לְ).—In Jos 3 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 S 4, &c., where the LXX still had simply אֲרוֹן יהוה); in הַיְחַד Ju 16 the Masora evidently combines two different readings הַיָּחֵד and יְתַד הָאֶרֶג; and similarly in Jer 25 (where הָאָ֫רֶץ was only subsequently introduced into the text), the two readings הַמַּמְלָכוֹת and מַמְלְכוֹת הָא׳ are combined.—In Jos 8, 1 K 14, Jer 31, Ez 45 the article, being usual after כָּל־, has been mechanically added, and so also in 2 Ch 8 after עַד־; in 2 K 9 the second הַנַּ֫עַד (instead of נַ֫עַר) is occasioned by the first; in Ez 7 מְהוּמָה belongs as a nominative to what follows; in Ez 8 the meaning perhaps is in the chambers, in the house of the Lord, or the article is to be omitted; in 1 Ch 15 the text is manifestly corrupt.

h 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. Zc 4 הָאֶ֫בֶן הַבְּדִיל the weight, the lead, i.e. the leaden weight; Ex 39, 2 K 16 (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 Jer 32 also הַמִּקְנָה (unless the article is simply to be omitted) is in apposition to הַסֵּפֶר.

i (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 Is 9, the one smiting him; in Dt 8, 13 also ךָ is a verbal suffix, but hardly the וֹ in הָֽעֹשׂוֹ for הָֽעֹשֵׂ֫הוּ Job 40, nor the ־ָהּ in הַיֹּֽלְדָהּ Dn 11; § 116 g. For הָֽעֶרְכְּךָ Lev 27, read עֶרְכְּךָ as in verses 2, 3, 5, 7, 13, &c., twelve times (but cf. also the note on § 128 d).—Of the remaining examples כַּגְּבִרְתָּהּ Is 24 (probably an intentional alliteration with the eleven other words beginning with כַּ‍), לַמַּֽעֲנֵ֫הוּ Pr 16, and בֶּֽעָרֵ֫ינוּ (so Baer, following the best authorities) Ezr 10, rest only on the authority of the Masoretes, not of the authors. So also in הָאָֽהֳלִי Jos 7, הַֽחֶצְיוֹ Jos 8 (previously חֶצְיוֹ), הֶהָֽרוֹתֶ֫יהָ 2 K 15 (dittography of the ה), the article is simply to be omitted as syntactically impossible; the ו of הַדָּבְרוֹ Mi 2 is the copula belonging to the next word.

1. הָֽאָדָם being a collective, cf. כָּל־הָאִישׁ 2 S 15, all men, כָּל־הַכֵּן Ex 1 all sons, כָּל־הַבַּת all daughters; in itself כָּל־הָֽאָרָם could also mean the whole man.
2. In Ezr 10 instead of בַּכֹּל אֲנָשִׁים read simply בְּכָל־הָֽאֲנָשִׁים.
3. According to Philippi (st. constr., p. 38) בית־אל is rather a case of ‘sub-position’ in the accusative, as also הַדֶּ֫רֶךְ חֶתְלוֹן Ez 47 (for which, however, in 48:1 there is the correct reading דֶּ֫רֶךְ חֶתְלוֹן) by the way to Hethlon; and in fact, Ez 47 may without difficulty be explained in this way; so שֵׁשׁ Ex 39 as an accusative of the material.