9:25; when? Lev. 25:22. (b) Of place, whither? Nu. 4:19, Jud. 19:18, Ez. 21:25. (c) Of restriction, Gen. 17:11, 14, 25 (not 24), 1 K. 15:23.
Rem. 4. To the rule that את is used only before def. obj. there are apparent exceptions. First, it is used with undefined obj. (a) In poetry, which greatly dispenses with the art.; e.g. in the case of words denoting a class, Is. 41:7; 50:4, Pr. 13:21 (b) In prose with words which are of the nature of pronoun, e.g. כל all, Deu. 2:34, 2 S. 6:1; אַחֵר another, Jer. 16:13. So with אחד one; and Num. in general have a certain definiteness of their own, Gen. 21:30, Nu. 16:15, 1 S. 9:3, 2 S. 15:16. Comp. the usage with man, woman, in the sense of any one, Ex. 21:28, Nu. 21:9, cf. Lev. 20:14. In some other cases the phrase though put indefinitely has a particular reference, e.g. 2 S. 4:11 a righteous man (Ishbosheth), 1 S. 26:20 a flea (one who is, &c.), i.e. David. In 2 S. 5:24 a known kind of divine rustling is referred to, and art. of 1 Chr. 14:15 might be accepted were it not the habit of Chron. to correct anomalies. 2 S. 18:18 pillar might be cons. before rel., but text is uncertain (Sep.). 1 S. 24:6 of the robe has prob. fallen out after skirt (Sep.). On 1 K. 12:31; 16:18, cf. § 22, R. 3.
Secondly, את seems used otherwise than before the obj. (a Some of the cases are only apparent. For ex. a neut. verb used impersonally with prep. and subj. is felt to have the force of an act. vb.; 2 S. 11:25 אל־יֵרַע בְּעֵינֶיךָ את־הַדָּבָר = take not amiss the thing; so 1 S. 20:13 (rd. יִיטַב) Neh. 9:32 אַל־יִמְעַט לְפָנֶיךָ את כל־הַתְּלָאָה regard not as little; so even the noun מְעַט with prep. ל, Josh. 22:17. Similarly הָיָה לְ = to have, Josh. 17:11; cf. the Eth. usage with prep. ba, in, with, as baya is with me = I have, followed by acc. (Dill. p. 343). (b) In some cases a particle like behold, or a verb like thou hast, seest, may float before the writer’s mind under whose regimen the noun falls, as Ez. 43:7 את־מְקוֹם כִּסְאִי behold (Sep. thou seest) the place of my throne. But in many cases את seems merely to give emphasis or demonstrative distinctness to the subj., particularly the emph. which an additional or new thing has, or which is natural in resuming things already spoken of. 1 S. 26:16 where is
