Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Heth/X Is Not a Hebrew Suffix

 

 

I am trying to confirm that heth/X is never used as a suffix in west Semitic Biblical names and non-loanwords in Biblical Hebrew.  Heth/X can appear at the end of a name or word in Hebrew, but it’s always as an integral part of the root, never as a suffix.

 

 

For example, NX/“Noah” at Genesis 5: 29 is often viewed as coming from the Biblical Hebrew common word NWX.  In both cases [both the common word and the proper name], the final heth/X is an integral part of the root, and is not a suffix.

 

 

ZRX/“Zerah” at Genesis 36: 13 is likewise viewed as coming from the Biblical Hebrew common word ZRX.  In both cases, the final heth/X is an integral part of the root, and is not a suffix.

 

 

There is no west Semitic Biblical Hebrew name, is there, that features a tri-consonantal root, to which a heth/X has then been added as a suffix?

 

 

I am simply trying to confirm that although one may see a heth/X at the end of a west Semitic Biblical Hebrew name or common word, in each and every case such heth/X will be an integral part of the root, and will not be a suffix.

 

 

Jim Stinehart

Evanston, Illinois