Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

K Randolph wrote:
> On 11/20/06, Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com> wrote:
> > kenneth greifer wrote:
> > >
> > > Can't Haggai 2:7 be the plural "desires" or "desired things" the 
> > way it is
> > > spelled?
> >
> > HH: The Masoretic pointing suggests a singular to the grammarians. Since
> > you are not "that educated," you need to accept their judgment.
> Harold, what do you do with the plural verb for that subject?
> Remember, the waw for the fem. plural was optional and the Masoretic
> pointing was off often enough so we should take it only as a
> suggestion, so would not the context indicate a plural?
HH: I am unsure what you are talking about when you speak of a waw for 
the feminine plural of the verb being optional. Obviously the verb is 
masculine in Hag 2:7. Perhaps you mean that it was optional for feminine 
words to take a masculine plural verb. Yes, that is true. As for the 
rest of your question, please read through the thread. I have accepted 
from the start that the verb is plural and suggests a plural. Steve is 
arguing that one can account for the plural by supposing that "desire" 
refers to God, and since God sometimes refers to Himself in terms of 
"us," Steve thinks that "desire" can take a plural verb for that reason. 
The entire argument is unacceptable to me.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard

Yours,
Harold Holmyard