Is 76, fem., Judaea; אֱדֹם masc., Idumaei, Nu 2020; fem., Idumaea, Jer 4917. Nevertheless, it sometimes happens that by a very common transference of thought (just as we say Turkey concludes peace) these names are construed as feminine, even when they denote not the country but the inhabitants; so יְהוּדָה La 13; cf. Gn 418, Ex 107, 1233, 1 S 1721, 2 S 82, 249, Is 72, 212, 4211, Jer 5010, Jb 115. Hence the frequent personification of nations (as well as of countries and towns, see h, note 5) as female beings, e.g. Is 501, 541 ff., and the use of the expressions בַּת בָּבֶל Is 471 ff., בַּת צִיּוֹן &c. (see above) as collective poetical personifications of the people.
[k] (b) Appellative nouns, which denote a circumscribed space, such as אֶ֫רֶץ earth, land, תֵּבֵל world, שְׁאֹל the abode of the dead, כִּכָּר circle (of the Jordan valley), עִיר a town, בְּאֵר a well, צָפוֹן the north, תֵּימָן the south.
[l] In the majority of nouns denoting place the gender is variable, e.g. אֹ֫רַח and דֶּ֫רֶךְ a way (usually feminine; the masculine gender only begins to predominate with Ezekiel; cf. Albrecht, l. c., 1896, p. 55), גַּיְא (גַּי) valley, גַּן garden (fem. Gn 215, unless לְעָבְדֹה, &c., is to be read), הֵיכָל palace, temple, חָעֵר court, כֶּ֫רֶם vineyard, שַׁ֫עַר door,[1] &c.; also מָקוֹם place, at least in Gn 1824 (referring to Sodom), Jb 209, and 2 S 1712 Kethîbh, is construed as feminine. The mountains and hills commanding the surrounding country are almost without exception masculine (see Albrecht, l. c., p. 60 f.).
[m] (c) The names of instruments, utensils, and (on the same analogy) members and parts of the body in man or beast, since these are all regarded as subservient and subordinate (consequently as feminine).
[n] Thus חֶ֫רֶב sword, יָתֵד tent-peg, כַּד bucket, כּוֹס cup, נַ֫עַל shoe, עֶ֫רֶשׂ bed, &c.; in other cases, as אֲרוֹן chest, ark (with the article הָֽאָרוֹן), תַּנּוּר oven, the gender is variable. (‘Instruments for binding or holding, girdles and the like, as constraining and mastering, are masculine,’ Albrecht, l. c., p. 89.)—Also אֹ֫זֶן ear (and in general, members occurring in pairs, Albrecht, l. c., p. 73 f.), אֶצְבַּע finger (and so probably בֹּ֫הֶן thumb, great toe), יָד and כַּף hand, יָמִין right hand, רֶ֫גֶל foot, בֶּ֫רֶךְ knee, יָרֵךְ thigh, כָּתֵף shoulder, לְחִי cheek, בֶּ֫טֶן belly, כָּנָף wing, קֶ֫רֶן horn, שֵׁן tooth; as a rule also זְרוֹעַ arm (masc. Is 175, &c.), לָשׁוֹן tongue (masc. ψ 2216, Pr 2628, &c.), עַ֫יִן eye (masc. Zc 39, &c.), שׁוֹק thigh (masc. Ex 2927).[2]
[o] (d) Certain names of natural forces or substances are feminine, being probably regarded as instruments, while in the names of the heavens, the heavenly bodies and natural phenomena, the masculine generally predominates (cf. Albrecht, l. c., p. 323 ff.); thus feminine are שֶׁ֫מֶשׁ sun (but often also masc., ψ 196, 10419); אֵשׁ (Ethiopic ’ĕsât)
- ↑ מַֽחֲנֶה camp is feminine only when it is a collective, denoting the persons in a camp.
- ↑ אַף nose, גִּיד sinew, זָנָב tail, חֵךְ palate, כָּבֵד liver, לֵב, לֵבָב heart, מֵעִים, רַֽחֲמִים bowels, מֵ֫צַח forehead, עוֹר skin, עֹרֶף back of the neck, פֶּה mouth, צַוָּאר neck, רֹאשׁ head, שְׁכֶם shoulder, also רֶ֫חֶם womb, except in Jer 2017, are invariably construed as masculine.—עֶ֫צֶם bone is common.
