Biblical Hebrew Forum

[ianyoung AT plato.arts.usyd.edu.au]

Hi Daniel,

For more information than you probably want on `am as singular and plural, see
my article:

Ian Young,"`Am Construed as Singular and Plural in Hebrew Biblical Texts:
Diachronic and Textual Perspectives," Zeitschrift für Althebraistik 12, 1999,
p.29-63.

To summarize: different books have different preferences about how often they
take `am as singular and plural.  Exodus is unusual in that it tends toward
singular forms even in regard to the suffix forms, which in most books are
pretty uniformly plural.

And if you really like collective nouns (why don't I get invited to parties
any more?) you may be interested in:

"`Edah and Qahal as Collective Nouns in Hebrew Biblical Texts," Zeitschrift
für Althebraistik 14, 2001, p.68-78.

Summary: These two collective nouns behave differently to `am (and each
other).

-Ian

You wrote:

My knowledge of Hebrew is still rather limited, so
please bear with me if I ask stupid questions.  I
apologize for not transliterating the Hebrew, but I am
unaware of the system used by the list.

I am puzzled by the use of suffixes in Exodus 3:7. 
The suffixes in question are:

1) The 3rd masculine plural suffix on "cry"

2) The 3rd masculine singular suffix on the participle
which I must assume is something like "oppressors" or
"taskmasters" substantively

3) The 3rd masculine singular suffix on "pains"

Now, my first question is whether all three of these
suffixes refer to the "my people."  Perhaps I am
mistaken about this, and if I am that might explain my
question.

If all three uses of the suffixes do in fact refer
back to the "my people," why is one suffix plural
while the other two are singular?  Is there a reason
for this, or is it a grammatically inconsistent aspect
of the language?

Thanks,
Daniel Walin