Biblical Hebrew Forum

[jimstinehart AT aol.com]

Prof. Yigal Levin:
I agree that at Genesis 38: 2, the meanings “her Canaanite father” and “her 
father, the Canaanite” would be essentially the same.  But note that you have 
supplied the English word “the” in the second phrase, whereas there is no 
definite article, he/H, at Genesis 38: 2.  Does that lack of the definite 
article preclude this from being an appositional phrase here, as it may 
arguably preclude KN(NY from being a noun?
Or to phrase the question slightly differently, does H-KN(NY with the 
definite article strongly imply a noun with plural meaning, “the Canaanites”, 
whereas by sharp contrast, KN(NY without the definite article [such as at 
Genesis 38: 2] implies a singular adjective, “Canaanite” or “Canaanitish” [ 
n-o-t  “the Canaanite” or “a Canaanite”]?  Or, on the contrary, for both 
H-KN(NY and KN(NY, does everything depend on the context, both as to whether 
it’s an adjective or a noun, and whether it’s plural or singular?  In the 
latter case, then arguably the phrase at Genesis 38: 2 could be viewed as 
being either an appositional phrase or as an adjectival phrase.
I had initially thought that Genesis 38: 2 shows that either H-KN(NY or KN(NY 
could be singular in meaning, but that argument would be quite weak if it is 
clear that the phrase at Genesis 38: 2 is adjectival, because KN(NY as an 
adjective would say little about H-KN(NY as a noun.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois