Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

You are right! I also think that ADEY is plural. Why? because it  
appears to me that this tsere is a double xirik for a doubly  
truncated HIY) ( היא ), thus:
עדי = עד-היא-היא
which, I think, is an old plural form, before the addition of M to  
make HEM ( הם ).
In Eccl. 4:2-3 ADENAH is obviously AD-HENAH ( עד-הנה ). In verse  
3 it is ADEN = AD-HEN.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Dec 10, 2010, at 1:47 AM, Pere Porta wrote

> In Nm 24:20 we have (DY, a variant of (D: in some way we could say  
> that this is the plural construct of the basic (D (until, up to).
> But in Ecc 4:3 we find (DN, hitherto, still, which is usually taken  
> for a variant of (D as well.
>
> Regarding the final N of this word, what would this N be?
>
> It does not seem to be in any relation with the -N suffix of the  
> plural feminine (look for instance at 1Sa 20:3: MUTFN)
>
>
> --
> Pere Porta