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  • From: Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Haggai 2:7 and Isaiah 41:22
  • Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 11:42:53 -0600

K Randolph wrote:

> 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 ...

Noun, not verb.

HH: Oh, so you mean an internal waw. Sure, you can repoint the noun. That's what I've said all along.

... being optional. Obviously the verb is
masculine in Hag 2:7.

It is a Qal perfective common plural, i.e. it can take either masc. or
fem. subjects.

HH: Right. My mistake, but this does not bear on the argument.

... 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.

The theological perspective should be considered only after all
linguistic questions have been answered, and in this case, the
grammatical structure and context indicate that the subject is not
God.

HH: Except that Steve is arguing on those very grounds (the
grammatical structure and context) that the subject is God.

In this context, we have a plural verb with a fem. subject in
construct hence ending with a tau. However, the waw indicating that
this is a plural fem. noun is optional,

HH: Right. You want to repoint the noun.

so the noun can be either
sing. or plural.

HH: Yes, if you repoint it.

The context of the plural verb indicates plurality
for the noun.

HH: Yes, we agree on that.

The Masoretic pointing is wrong.

HH: It might be, but the noun might be a collective taking a plural verb (GKC #145).

Yours,
Harold Holmyard






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