Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jason Hare" <jaihare AT gmail.com>]

I'm not sure about why it is plural )MHWT [אמהות] unless this is to
distinguish it from )MWT, "mothers" [אִמּוֹת], "cubits" [אַמּוֹת] and
"peoples" [אֻמּוֹת]. Strangely, )MHWT is used as a plural for "mothers" in
the siddur, where it is vocalized as /immahot/ rather than /amahot/. The
latter is the standard plural of "handmaiden", so 2 Samuel 6:22 is not an
exception as regards that word. The plural form also appears in Genesis
20:17, Genesis 31:33, Deuteronomy 12:12, 2 Samuel 6:20, Job 19:15, Nahum
2:8, Ezra 2:65, and Nehemiah 7:67.

I hope this helps,
Jason Hare

On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 8:36 AM, <pporta AT oham.net> wrote:

> In 2S 6:22 we find H)MHWT, the handmaids.
> I wonder why the final H (*) does not change to T.
> It seems that in the declension of the noun a final H should change, as
> usual, to T.
>
> Which is the reason for this remaining H that does not turn to T?
> Maybe with the purpose of not to mistake the plural of this )MH for the
> plural of )MH, cubit (Gn 6:15, singular; 2Ch 3:3, plural)?
> Are there in the Tanakh other similar cases, namely some nouns that keep
> the
> final H in their declension?
>
> (*)  See )MH, handmaid, Ex 21:32
>
> Pere Porta
> Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain)
>
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