Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar/34. The Demonstrative Pronoun
b Rem. 1. The feminine form זֹאת has undoubtedly arisen from זָאת, by obscuring of an original â to ô (for זָא = זֶה cf. the Arab. hâ-ḏâ, this, masc.; for ת as the feminine ending, § 80), and the forms זֹה, זוֹ, both of which are rare,[3] are shortened from זֹאת. In ψ 13212 זוֹ is used as a relative, cf. זוּ below. In Jer 266, Kethîbh, הַזּאֹתָה (with the article and the demonstrative termination ־ָה) is found for זֹאת. The forms אֵלֶּה and אֵל are the plurals of זֶה and זֹאת by usage, though not etymologically. The form אֵל occurs only in the Pentateuch (but not in the Samaritan text), Gn 198.25, 263.4, &c. (8 times), always with the article, הָאֵל [as well as אֵלֶּה, הָאֵלֶּה frequently], and in 1 Ch 208 without the article [cf. Driver on Dt 442].[4] Both the singular and the plural may refer to things as well as persons.
c 2. In combination with prepositions to denote the oblique case we find לָזֶה to this (cf. for לָ, § 102 g), לְזֹאת, לָזֹאת to this (fem.), לְאֵ֫לֶּה, לָאֵ֫לֶּה to these; אֶת־זֶה hunc, אֶת־זֹאת hanc, אֶת־אֵ֫לֶּה hos, also without אֶת־, even before the verb ψ 758, &c. Note also מְחִיר זֶה pretium huius (1 K 212), &c. d 2. The secondary form זוּ occurs only in poetic style, and mostly for the relative, like our that for who [see Lexicon, s. v.]. Like אֲשֶׁר (§ 36), it serves for all numbers and genders.
e Rem. 1. This pronoun takes the article (הַזֶּה, הַזֹּאת, הָאֵ֫לֶּה, הָאֵל) according to the same rule as adjectives, see § 126 u; e.g. הָאִישׁ הַזֶּה this man, but זֶה הָאִישׁ this is the man.
f 2. Rarer secondary forms, with strengthened demonstrative force, are הַלָּזֶה Gn 2465, 3719; הַלֵּ֫זוּ fem. Ez 3635; and shortened הַלָּז, sometimes masc., as in Ju 620, 1 S 1726, 2 K 2317, Zc 28, Dn 816, sometimes fem., 2 K 425: cf. 1 S 141 [and 2019 LXX; see Commentaries and Kittel].
g 3. The personal pronouns of the 3rd person also often have a demonstrative sense, see § 136.
- ↑ In many languages the demonstratives begin with a d-sound (hence called the demonstrative sound) which, however, sometimes interchanges with a sibilant. Cf. Aram. דֵּן, דֵּךְ masc., דָּא, דָּךְ fem. (this); Sansk. sa, sā, tat; Gothic sa, sô, thata; Germ. da, der, die, das; and Eng. the, this, that, &c. Cf. J. Barth, ‘Zum semit. Demonstr. ḏ,’ in ZDMG. 59, 159 ff., and 633 ff.; Sprachwiss. Untersuchungen zum Semit., Lpz. 1907, p. 30 ff. [See the Lexicon, s. v. זֶה, and Aram. דא, די.]
- ↑ That זֶה may stand for the feminine, cannot be proved either from Ju 1628 or from the certainly corrupt passage in Jos 217.
- ↑ זֹה 2 K 619, and in seven other places; זוֹ only in Hos 716, ψ 13212.
- ↑ According to Kuenen (cf. above, § 2 n) and Driver, on Lev 1827 in Haupt’s Bible, this אֵל is due to an error of the punctuators. It goes back to a time when the vowel of the second syllable was not yet indicated by a vowel letter, and later copyists wrongly omitted the addition of the ה. In Phoenician also it was written אל, but pronounced ily according to Plautus, Poen, v, 1, 9.