Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Nir cohen - Prof. Mat." <nir AT ccet.ufrn.br>]

  >>>  5. One interesting occurrence where both singular and plural
imperatives are used to address the same group is Hag 2:4 – “ ‘be strong all
the people of the land,’ declaration of Yahweh, ‘and work.’ ”  The first
imperative is singular and the second one is plural. It could, however, be
argued for this one that the plural imperative is directed not just toward
“all the people” but also to Zerubbabel and Joshua. 

     "be strong" is not an inflected verb form in the singular. it is a 
     formula for encouragement which only exists in the singular. i cannot 
think
     of an english parallel, e.g. i guess that even "be my guest" can be  
made      plural.

nir cohen