Biblical Hebrew Forum

[David Kummerow <farmerjoeblo AT hotmail.com>]

I don't have time to go into this, but good reading in my opinion on the 
so-called "indefinite use" of the definite article is treated by the 
following works:

Ehrensvärd, Martin. 2000. “Determination of the Noun in Biblical 
Hebrew.” Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 14: 301-314.
Ehrensvärd, Martin. 2000. “Studies in the Syntax and the Dating of 
Biblical Hebrew.” PhD diss., University of Aarhus.
Müller, Augustin R. 1991. “Zu den Artikelfunktionen im Hebräischen.” 
Pages 313-329 in Text, Methode, und Grammatik: Wolfgang Richter zum 65. 
Geburtstag. Edited by Walter Gross, Hubert Irsigler, and Helmut 
Satzinger. St. Ottilien: EOS Verlag.

Regards,
David Kummerow.



> "Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar_ treats the definite article here as special
>
> but as an example of a category of usage (section #126 q-r). They say:
>
> "Peculiar to Hebrew is the employment of the article to denote a single
>
> person or thing (primarily one which is as yet unknown, and therefore
>
> not capable of being defined) as being present in the mind under given
>
> circumstances. In such cases in English the indefinite article is mostly
>
> used."
>
>
>
> The go on to speak particularly of this article in Isaiah 7:14: "H(LMH,
>
> i.e., the particular maiden, through whom the prophet's announcement
>
> shall be fulfilled; we should say "a maiden."
>
>
>
> For other examples of this class of usage they give, among others, Gen
>
> 42:23; 1 Kings 19:9; Job 9:31.
>
>
>
> Yours,
>
> Harold Holmyard"
>
> Gesenius is dated, so in my opinion it should generally not be used. The
> above is an example of why. That the Hebrew word for the definite article
> would sometimes have a meaning of the indefinite article is a
> contradiction. Specifically here Gesenius changed his opinion in general
> regarding the meaning of the Hebrew definite article as well as its
> application to 7:14 (that the definite article is indeed intended) in a
> subsequent publication.
>
> Joseph