'Another word question'

[cizz]

Exd 34:4 And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.

'hand' = yad

Question: How did translators know when to use 'plural and singular' (hand vs. hands)?

Why did Moses carry two tables of stone in one hand?

 

[Vince]

He needed his other had to carry his staff. Walking down that mountain could be tricky, you know.

 

[cizz]

He needed his other had to carry his staff. Walking down that mountain could be tricky, you know.

:seehearspeak ....I never thought of that! lol

 

[cizz]

Okay, I should make myself more clear...

Both, hand and hands are translated from the word 'yad'


Deu 9:15 So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant [were] in my two hands.

It is clear to why yad' is plural in this verse...'two hands'...but the word for hand is still translated from 'yad

Is there a set rule or standard for the translators to know when to add 's' ?

 

[cyberjosh]

Okay, I should make myself more clear...

Both, hand and hands are translated from the word 'yad'


Deu 9:15 So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant [were] in my two hands.

It is clear to why yad' is plural in this verse...'two hands'...but the word for hand is still translated from 'yad

Is there a set rule or standard for the translators to know when to add 's' ?

Concordances are bad about helping in this circumstance because they only give the root word form from which the actual word & its exact form derives. The plural for yad is yadayim, although even more specific forms can occur like the plural, with the second person suffix form written yadeyka that occurs in Zecheriah 13:6 (see the entry under that verse here), yet Strong's concordance for this verse will only list yad, H3027 for that word. Forms for first, second, and third person can all change the exact form of the word (like modern day Spanish - not to mention ancient/classical Greek as well) but all derive from the same root word, they just change their exact form with specific prefixes, infixes, and suffixes around the root word/stem as the rules of Hebrew grammar dictate. Since concordances are non-technical and oriented toward the lay-reader only the root words are referenced.

In the majority of cases the "default" rule of thumb for "pluralizing" words is for male nouns they will end with "-im" or sometimes "-in" (denoting double - specifically two) and for female nouns they will end in "-oth". An example may be of when the Bible says Israel apostacized and worshiped the "Baals and Ashteroth" or "Baalim and Asheroth". Another example might be the Biblical City Succoth ("booths", also the Jewish Feast of Booths was called Sukkot [same word - slightly different form]). However some words like for man, "iysh" have completely unexpected plural forms like "enosh" (men). Anyway, that's basically an over-simplified tutorial on what I understand of Hebrew plurals.

God Bless,

~Josh

 

[cyberjosh]

Also, if you are doing a study specifically on Exodus and want the actual Hebrew to be more accessible to you and also want as literal a translation as possible I would suggest to you this new mechanical translation of Exodus from my friend Jeff Benner (owner of http://www.ancient-hebrew.org): A Mechanical Translation of the Book of Exodus. I have his mechanical translation of the book of Genesis and it is terrific! What "mechanical" means is that he translates each Hebrew word into only one English word, every time, regardless of context, meaning you don't get the 1-Hebrew-word-is-translated-20-different-ways-in-the-English-Bible problem. This is not always best translation practice (as context matters) but Mr. Benner has offered this translation technique as a tool for understanding the underlying text & removing translator biases, not necessarily as a claim to being a superior translation. His text includes the actual Hebrew, an English approximation for each hebrew word (is careful to show plurals, etc), and then a smoother actual English translation based on the words. You can see that on pictures of his sample pages from his site here: Exodus Mechanical Translation.

It results in a some times awkward translation, but is worth it for study. Another neat feature is all names are susbstituted with their meaning - like (I believe) "Judah" appears as "Praise" in the text where his name would be. He also has made his own Ancient Hebrew concordance/lexicon to go with his translations (separate book), which I own and is a valuable supplement to Strong's Concordance (a bonus is that Mr. Benner shows the pictograph nature of Hebrew and possible interpretations of how the word was formed and/or derived meanings from the pictograph letters).

I'm not sure if you are looking to get that serious with word studies, but this is about as close as you can get without being a certified scholar in the languages! All his books (the Genesis/Exodus translations & his Ancient Hebrew lexicon) I highly recommend for serious word studies.

God Bless,

~Josh

 

[Vince]

In Hebrew, "im," pronounced "eem," is the usual plural form. As has been pointed out, exhaustive concordances often give only the singular form, even when the noun is plural.

 

[cizz]

Josh,

You're AWESOME!
I had booked marked a couple sites yesterday so I could read more on Hebrew grammar, I don't think I need to now! You explain things so well and in simple terms that even I can understand them. It's not my intentions to get caught up in word studies, but the words are always jumping out at me. I was referencing one verse when I noticed Moses carrying the tables in one hand and of course I have to know! I also noticed it says 'table not tablets' like most refer to them. I know luwach, 'tables is also tablets', but to most 'table is something to eat off of, lol

I will most definitely being purchasing Jeff Benner's books, thank you for suggesting them.

I did find a very interesting tidbit (thanks to my sister, Betty) on why Moses could carry the tables in one hand;

"once the tablets came into proximity with the golden calf, the script flew off and ascended to heaven to testify of the idol worship and the tablets turned into normal, profane stone which Moses could no longer bear"
http://www.hebrew4christians.net/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/Yod/yod.html
*Scroll down to #8

Many blessings' Josh

Cathy

 

[cizz]

In Hebrew, "im," pronounced "eem," is the usual plural form. As has been pointed out, exhaustive concordances often give only the singular form, even when the noun is plural.

Thank you so much, Vince
I'll have to remember this in the future :yes

Many blessings'
Cizz