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cellioSunday night at one point Johan asked me about the fact that one of the names of God in the torah is a plural form. We were talking about creation and I said that the verb is singular (bara), but that didn't provide a fully-satisfactory answer.
Since then, though, I had a small revelation while studying Hebrew: there are other words that appear plural but aren't really, like mayim (water). More specifically, the ones I've encountered so far are collective nouns.
I don't know yet if that's a general rule, nor if every use of that name of God takes a singular verb, but the idea of a collective God, representing all of the various divine aspects bundled up together, is kind of interesting.
Since then, though, I had a small revelation while studying Hebrew: there are other words that appear plural but aren't really, like mayim (water). More specifically, the ones I've encountered so far are collective nouns.
I don't know yet if that's a general rule, nor if every use of that name of God takes a singular verb, but the idea of a collective God, representing all of the various divine aspects bundled up together, is kind of interesting.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-27 02:29 pm (UTC)