Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JoeWallack AT aol.com]

""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.

Harold Holmyard"
 
 
JW:
I previously indicated that Gesenius changed his mind about the usage of  the 
Hebrew definite article. In an earlier publication he stated that it  
sometimes was not indicative of a definite object. In a later publication he  
corrected himself and stated that use of the Hebrew definite article is 
always  
indicative of a definite object. This was an embarrassing mistake for him (my 
 
guess is he was corrected by the same folks who corrected Origen and Jerome). 
My  
point here is that support for a related position should be based on the 
reasons  that Gesenius gives (as you have done above) and not just on his 
supposed  
authority.
 
What Gesenius is trying to say above in general is a Hebrew usage could be  
considered grammatically Definite in Hebrew while being considered 
grammatically  Indefinite in English. Thus, the use of the indefinite (a) in 
English could 
be  an appropriate translation. My question here is Specifically, how is  
7:14 grammatically indefinite in English?:
 
"i.e., the particular maiden, through whom the prophet's announcement  

shall be fulfilled; we should say "a maiden."

It seems to me that to take this as indefinite in English the young woman  
must be unknown to Isaiah and not even determined yet at the time of the  
prophecy. How could this be justified based on the Hebrew grammar and  
context?
 
 
 
Joseph
 
 
 





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