[b-hebrew] Qoheleth 7:27
Peter Bekins
pbekins at fuse.net
Sun Mar 16 21:30:29 EDT 2008
On Mar 15, 2008, at 1:20 PM, b-hebrew-request at lists.ibiblio.org wrote:
> I am working on Ecclesiastes 7:27, which uses two feminine
> adjectives 'echadh (not sure what transliteration scheme to use
> here). Is anyone aware of an independant usage of the feminine
> adjective to refer to something that is grammatically masculine?
> In other words, my inclination is to translated this as "I compared
> one woman to another in order to find an explanation/conclusion.
>
> If you have some concrete examples that this should be translated
> as a neuter one thing to another thing, I would be interested in
> the verses.
>
> I do not have any theological axe to grind here, but want to
> reflect what Solomon really meant.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Ron Snider,
> Pastor-teacher
As Ken replied, it is quite common in Semitic languages to use the
feminine adjective for a generic "thing" (technically I wouldn't call
it a neuter since neither Hebrew nor English have neuters). I just
happened to be reading tonight and found a quite clear example with
אחת )XT from the first part of Psalm 27:4:
אַחַ֤ת ׀ שָׁאַ֣לְתִּי
מֵֽאֵת־יְהוָה֮ אוֹתָ֪הּ אֲבַ֫קֵּ֥שׁ
)XT $)LTY M)T-YHYH )WTH )BQ$...
One thing I ask from the Lord, it I will seek...
Pete Bekins
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