I. אֵת, with makk.
אֶתֿ, with suffix
אֹתִי;
ֽֽֽאֹתְךָ,
ֽֽֽאֹתְכָה †
Numbers 22:33,
אֹתָ֑ךְ,
אֹתָ֑כָה †
Exodus 29:35, feminine
אֹתָךְ;
אֹתוֺ etc.;
2nd person plural אֶתְכֶם, once
ֽֽֽאוֺתְכֶם Joshua 23:15;
3rd person masculine plural regularly
אֹתָם, rarely
אֶתְהֶם †
Genesis 32:1 [
Genesis 31:55;
Exodus 18:20;
Numbers 21:3;
Ezekiel 34:12;
1 Chronicles 6:50, once
ֽֽֽאוֺתְהֶם Ezekiel 23:45;
3rd person feminine plural, on the contrary, regularly
אֶתְהֶן (
13 times), once
אֹתָן Ezekiel 16:54 (also
ֽֽֽאוֺתְהֶן Ezekiel 23:47,
אֹתָ֖נָה Exodus 35:26,
אוֺתָ֖נָה Ezekiel 34:21); forms with
cholem also often written
plene: — the
mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are
definite (Moabite
id., Phoenician
אית i.e.
אִיַּת (Schröd
p. 213 f.); Aramaic
יָת frequently in
; Syriac
txy very rare as mark of accusative (for which
L is preferred), but used often in the sense of
substance οὐσία, also in that of
self, e.g.
ܟܝܳܬܷܗ per se, reapse,
ܠܝܳܬܷܗ sibi ipsi, PS
1640f., Samaritan
VJ; Arabic
إِيَّا, only used with suffix, when it is desired to emphasize the pronoun, e.g. Qor 1:4 W
AG i. § 189. [Ethiopic uses
ኪያ፡ kīyā similarly, Di
§ 150 a; but it is dubious if this is etymologically akin.] The primitive form will have been
'iwyath, originally a substantive with following genitive, Ol
p. 432; whether ultimately a parallel development with
אוֺת sign from √
אוה is uncertain: Ol W
AG i. § 188 Lag
M i. 226 affirm, Nö
ZMG 1886, 738 doubts. In Hebrew the ground-form is אוֺת; the forms with
¢,
e being abbreviated. In post Biblical Hebrew, used in combination with another preposition: thus
בְּאוֺתוֺ הַיּוֺם = Bibl.
בַּיּוֺם הַהוּא,
בְּאוֺתָהּ הַשָּׁעָה; or as a nomin., e.g.
אוֺתוֺ הָאִישׁ = Bibl.
הָאִישׁ הַהוּא).
† 1. As mark of the accusative prefixed to substantives defined either by the article (or כֹּל), or by a genitive or pronominal affix, or in virtue of being proper names:
† a. with transitive verbs,
Genesis 1:1,
16,
29,
30;
Genesis 2:11;
Genesis 4:1,
2;
Genesis 9:3 (
אֶתֽֽֽֿכֹּל׃) etc. Similarly
אֶתמִֿי whom (in particular),
Joshua 24:15;
1 Samuel 12:3;
1 Samuel 28:11;
Isaiah 6:8 and elsewhere (but never
אֶתמָֿה); also with
זֶה Genesis 29:33;
Genesis 44:29; 1 Samuel 21:16;
1 Kings 22:27 +,
זֹאת Genesis 29:27;
2 Samuel 13:27 +,
אֵלֶּה Genesis 46:18;
Leviticus 11:18;
Isaiah 49:21 +. So pretty uniformly in prose; but in poetry
את is commonly dispensed with. By the use of
את with the pronominal affix, a pronoun can at once, if required, be placed in a position of emphasis; let the order of words from this point of view be carefully noticed in the following passages:
Genesis 7:1;
Genesis 24:14;
Genesis 37:4;
Leviticus 10:17;
Leviticus 11:33;
Numbers 22:32 thee I had slain, and
her I had kept alive,
Deuteronomy 4:14;
Deuteronomy 6:13,
23;
Deuteronomy 13:5;
Judges 14:3 אוֺתָהּ קַח לִי take for me
her,
1 Samuel 14:35;
1 Samuel 15:1;
1 Samuel 18:17;
1 Samuel 21:10 אִםאֹֿתָהּ תִּקַּחלְֿךָ קָ֔ח if thou wilt take
that, take it,
1 Kings 1:35;
1 Kings 14:9;
Isaiah 43:22;
Isaiah 57:11;
Jeremiah 9:2. So
הַאוֺתִי †
Jeremiah 5:22;
Jeremiah 7:19. It also sometimes enables the reflexive sense to be expressed (elsewhere
נַפְשָׁם)
Jeremiah 7:19;
Ezekiel 34:2. Rarely with a substantive which is undefined (Ew
§ 277 d 2 Ges
§ 117, 1, R. 2), as
Exodus 21:28;
Numbers 21:9;
Leviticus 20:14;
1 Samuel 24:6 (but see Dr)
2 Samuel 4:11;
2 Samuel 18:18;
2 Samuel 23:21; or which, though definite, is without the article,
Genesis 21:30;
2 Samuel 15:16;
Leviticus 26:5;
1 Samuel 9:3 (so
Numbers 16:15)
Isaiah 33:19;
Isaiah 41:7;
Ezekiel 43:10 (for further examples see Ew
1.c.)
† 2. את marks an accusative in other relations than that of direct object to a verb:
† 3. Chiefly in an inferior or later style, אֵת (or וְאֵת) is used irregularly, partly
(α), as it would seem, to give greater definiteness (so especially וְאֵת) at the mention of a new subject (when it may sometimes be rendered as regards), or through the influence of a neighbouring verb (a construct κατὰ σύνεσιν), or by an anacoluthon, partly
(β) as resuming loosely some other preposition.
Thus
(
β)
Jeremiah 38:9;
Ezekiel 14:22b;
Ezekiel 37:19b Zechariah 12:10;
סָבִיב אֵת 1 Kings 6:5;
Ezekiel 43:17 strangely (in 1 Kings
omits the clause: so Sta
ZAW 1883, 135). — In
1 Kings 11:1 וְ is merely
and also, and especially (see
וְ);
1 Kings 11:25 is corrupt (read with
זֹאת הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה הֲדָד);
Ezekiel 47:17,
18,
19 read similarly for
ואת,
זֹאת : see
Ezekiel 47:20. — For some particulars as to the use of
את, see A. M. Wilson
Hebraica. vi. 139 ff. 212 ff. (who, however, confuses it sometimes with II.
אֵת). For denoting the pronominal object of a verb,
את with suffix preponderates relatively much above the verbal affix in P, as compared with J E Deuteronomy Judges Samuel Kings (see Gie
ZAW 1881, 258 f.), — partly, probably, on account of the greater distinctness and precision which P loves.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database.
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