Tag Archives: 1 Kings 5:3

A Royal Menu: Quantifiers and Species in 1 Kings 5:3

1 Kings 5:3 עֲשָׂרָ֨ה בָקָ֜ר בְּרִאִ֗ים וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים בָּקָ֛ר רְעִ֖י וּמֵ֣אָה צֹ֑אן לְ֠בַד מֵֽאַיָּ֤ל וּצְבִי֙ וְיַחְמ֔וּר וּבַרְבֻּרִ֖ים אֲבוּסִֽים׃ Numerals and Nouns: עֲשָׂרָ֨ה בָקָ֜ר The phrase עֲשָׂרָ֨ה בָקָ֜ר (“ten fattened oxen”) demonstrates the masculine plural numeral עֲשָׂרָה agreeing in gender with בָקָר (“cattle, oxen”), which though singular in form is treated as a collective or plural in sense. The numeral precedes the noun, which is typical in Hebrew counting expressions. Similarly, וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים בָּקָ֛ר רְעִ֖י (“and twenty grazing oxen”) follows the same syntactic pattern with עֶשְׂרִים (“twenty”).… Learn Hebrew
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