SECT. IV. Of the Structure and Genius of the Hebrew Language. 130. The nature, the ftructure, and the genius of a language, are always congruous to the fituations, the customs, and the manners of the people who use it; and must be attended to, in order to understand their writings. In the Hebrew language, there are many peculiarities neceffary to be remarked for interpreting the books written in it. 131. In Hebrew, there are no neuter nouns, and confequently, no neuter gender of adjectives. This is an instance of simplicity, and it introduces peculiar manners of expreffion. [N° 852.] Glaff, Philol. Sacr. 1. 3, can. 19. 132. What are called conjugations in Hebrew, are very unlike to those of other languages; being different forms which any one verb affumes, by the addition of fome letters, in order to exprefs the various modifications of which the action denoted by it, is fufceptible; and thus answering to the feveral modes, voices, and fpecies of verbs in other languages. Schultens, Gram. Reg. 108. 133. Some have affected to multiply the conjugations, under pretence of removing anomalies from the language; language; but they would thus introduce a minuteness of distinction inconsistent with the fimplicity of the Hebrew. Some of their additional conjugations, and even two of those commonly received, are difcriminated only by the vowel points, and therefore arbitrarily; others of them, perhaps, are either irregular and infrequent forms of words, or inferred from a falfe reading in fome text of Scripture. Schultens, Gram. Heb. Robertfon's Gram. Heb. 1. 2. c. I. Wilfon's Heb. Gram. c. 10. 134. Grammarians have generally attempted to accommodate the Hebrew fyntax to the rules of the Greek and Latin languages; but by this they have only perplexed it; for it is, in almost every inftance, totally diffimilar. Thus, nouns relating to the fame thing are, in Hebrew, joined by mere appofition, without any regard to their being of the fame gender or number. Gen. xlii. 30.78 (plur.) x (fing.) "The man, the lord. " So very " .Jehovah God * יהוה אלהים often Hab. i. 16. D (mafc.) N (fem.) "Their portion is fatnefs, " I 135. When a fubftantive agrees with an adjective, it is placed first; but, if the adjective stand first, it is an affirmation; a verb, generally that of existence, being understood." 136. An adjective agrees with its fubftantive, and a verb with its nominative, generally in gender and number, but not always; for fometimes a plural fubftantive has a fingular verb or adjective; and, a collective fubftantive, or two or more fingular fubftantives may have a plural verb, adjective, or participle. Jid. ib. Glafs, ib. 1. 3. t. 4. can. 9. t. 3. can. 53. Buxt. ib. 1. 2. c. 9, 10. Gen. i. 1. D (plur.) 2 (fing.) "Creavit Dii. " ברא אלהים צדק משפטיך ישר משפטיך 66 Pfal. cxix. 75. To pr" Right are thy judgments." Ver. 137. Town "Upright are thy judgments. Pfal. lxxxix. 15. "Blessed is the people (or fig.) that know (plur.) the joyful sound; O Jehovah, in the light of thy countenance they fhall walk (plur.)" Gen. xli. 57. "All the earth ( fing.) came (12 plur.) into Egypt. But Sam has n Ken. in loc. plur. Pfal. lxxxix. 12. "Tabor and Hermon, in thy name they shall rejoice" (plur.) Ver. 11. "The world and its fulness, thou haft founded them" (ono plur. aff.) 137. As the Hebrews do not diftinguish the cafes of nouns by varying the termination, they can have no rules for the government of nouns; they have not even particles for regularly marking a particular cafe; thofe that are commonly reckoned fuch, being truly prepofitions, which have a variety of fignifications. 138. The only government of nouns, producing a change of termination, is what is called the constructed state; which is more properly a fort of compofition; for the change of termination accelerates the pronunciation, and it is made in the governing word; but this form of expreffion has all the fame varieties of force, as the government of a genitive in other languages. Buxt. Thes. 1. 2. c. 3. reg. 1. Glafs, ib. 1. 3. t. 1. can. 30. Ezra. iii. 7. whɔ wɔ, “according to the decree of Cyrus ; " i. e. given by him. Prov. i. 7. mm ns, "The fear of Jehovah, as its object. Exod. iv. 19. □127 w'n, “A man of words, 139. The government of the affix pronouns, by verbs, is in like manner a fpecies of compofition. 140. Almost all the other regimens in the Hebrew, are by means of prepofitions; and are, therefore, entirely refolvable into the various fignifications of the prepofitions. Buxt. Thes. 1. 2. c. 11. Glafs, ib. 1. 3. t. I. can. 31. 141. It is not, perhaps, ftrictly true, that all the primitive words, or roots, in Hebrew, confift of three letters; but very many of them do; and this regula larity is a mark of its being a fimple and original language, not one made up by the mixture of feveral. 142. It is whimfical to pretend that the Hebrew language contained as many roots as there are poffible combinations of three letters, and confequently, was fingularly copious; for no language was ever formed with fuch mathematical exactnefs. Men form words only as they have occafion for them; and there was nothing in the fituation of the Hebrews that could lead them to form a language remarkably copious. Yet it was not, on the other hand, remarkably fcanty; and it is certain that they had many roots which do not now appear in the Bible. Schultens. 143. It is commonly affirmed, that all the Hebrew primitives are verbs; and it is evident that, at least, most of them are fuch. This is another mark of its being a fimple and original language; for verbs are expreffive of the powers and qualities of things, as in act or exertion, in which case they are most striking, and therefore would be first taken notice of, and obtain names. 144. It requires abftraction, to conceive the power by itself, feparate from its being exerted; therefore adjectives, which exprefs a power as quiefcent, would be formed later than verbs, and naturally derived from them. In Hebrew, they are thus derived; and they are very few, which proceeds from the people being little addicted to abftraction, and has produced many methods |