Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Deborah Millier <deborahmillier AT yahoo.com>]

K. Randolph wrote:

>> I see absolutely nothing to 
>> do with menstruation in this 
>> verse.

To which J. West replied:

> the fact that the noun is 
> feminine.....  while melachim 
> is masculine.....

Sorry Jim if there has already been a flood of posts
in response to your above statement.  No "pile on"
intended.  Truth is, I seem to get the list digest
after most everyone else...so I'm usually a day late
and ALWAYS a dollar short in my T'SHUVOT.  :-)

But if you stop and think about it, the grammatical
gender of patient nouns (objects) is not really solid
ground from which to argue for the actual gender of
their assumed agents/users.  I mean, men in the Bible
have certainly cast stones...yet AVENIM is
grammatically feminine--though irregular, I know.  And
examples (regular and irregular) like this can be
multiplied.

I think Karl has shed some light on the matter, though
etymology is not totally a trustworthy gauge to
determine the actual meaning(s) of words, as they were
used in the Bible.  Or in any ancient document. 
Nevertheless, because we seem to be at a loss (I know
I am), Karl's conclusion appears at present a little
safer than yours.  At least to me.  :-)

B'SHALOM,
-- Michael Millier


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