Grammar:Number/0

Number

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Nonconformity Between Number and Verb

In Biblical Hebrew there is not always conformity between number and verb, with a plural sometimes taking a single form and vice versa.  Some commentators attribute this to "דרך המקרא", the way of the text,¹ and do not attempt to explain the various cases, while others try to explain the nonconformity in each case.

• The phenomenon is especially prevalent with regards to the root "היה":‎
• Ibn Ezra and Radak on Bereshit 1:14 (and Shadal and R. D"Z Hoffmann similarly) suggest that often in Tanakh the root "היה" will not conform with either number or gender, perhaps because of its prevalence.²
• Rashbam agrees that this "is the way of the text" but adds that if one wanted to look for conformity, one might suggest that in all such cases there is an assumed subject: "מעשה", so that the verses would read "and [it] happened, that..."
• Examples include: Bereshit 1:14 – "יְהִי מְאֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם",‎³  Bemidbar 9:6 – וַיְהִי אֲנָשִׁים, Devarim 22:23 – כִּי יִהְיֶה נַעֲרָ בְתוּלָה , Shemot 17:12 – וַיְהִי יָדָיו אֱמוּנָה,‎⁴
• Elsewhere, too, number and verb might not match:
• Bereshit 4:10
• Shemot 17:2  – "וַיָּרֶב הָעָם עִם מֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמְרוּ תְּנוּ לָנוּ מַיִם".  Though the verse implies that the nation is speaking only with Moshe, they nonetheless address him in the plural, saying, "תְּנוּ ". This leads Ibn Ezra and Radak to suggest that the nation must have been speaking to Aharon as well, even though he is not mentioned.
• Devarim 30:10 – מִצְוֺתָיו וְחֻקֹּתָיו הַכְּתוּבָה. See Chizkuni and R. D"Z Hoffmann.
• Shemuel I 2:4

Unexpected Plurals

• Sometimes a plural is used when a verse really means "one of ---" .  For example
• Bereshit 8:4 - See Shadal and R. D"Z Hoffmann who both explain "עַל הָרֵי אֲרָרָט" to mean "on one of the mountains of Ararat"
• Shofetim 12:7 – וַיִּקָּבֵר בְּעָרֵי גִלְעָד
• Shemuel I 1:1.  See Radak that יְהִי אִישׁ אֶחָד מִן הָרָמָתַיִם צוֹפִים might mean "there was a man from one of the Ramot"
• Shemuel I 18:21 - "בִּשְׁתַּיִם תִּתְחַתֵּן בִּי הַיּוֹם" – see Radak on Shemuel I 1:1

¹ See Rashbam on Bereshit 1:14, "דרך המקראות לומר לשון יחיד אצל לשון רבים" and see the note below that many say this with regards to the root "היה" specifically.

² Radak writes, "לשון הויה אינו שומר בהרבה מקומות יחיד ורבים זכר ונקבה," and Ibn Ezra (Dikduk) explains "בעבור שידברו במלה הזאת הרבה".

³ Though the word "מְאֹרֹת" is plural, the verb "יְהִי" is singular.  Compare Rashbam, Ibn Ezra and Radak with Lekach Tov who suggests that the singular form teaches that the luminaries were created from the light of the first day.

⁴ See Ibn Ezra, R. D"Z Hoffmann, and compare Rashi who adds in an assumed subject, :"ויהי משה ידיו פרושות השמים באמונה".