# הִשְׁבַּעְתָּנוּ



## Ali Smith

שלום

מַה דּוֹדֵךְ מִדּוֹד הַיָּפָה בַּנָּשִׁים מַה דּוֹדֵךְ מִדּוֹד שֶׁכָּכָה הִשְׁבַּעְתָּנוּ.

Why is הִשְׁבַּעְתָּנוּ in the second person masculine singular when a female is being addressed?

אני מודה לכם מאוד


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## GeriReshef

What makes you think הִשְׁבַּעְתָּנוּ is addressed to a man and not to a woman?


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## Drink

GeriReshef said:


> What makes you think הִשְׁבַּעְתָּנוּ is addressed to a man and not to a woman?


Because of דּוֹדֵךְ.


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## GeriReshef

King James translate it as:
"what _is_ thy beloved more than _another_ beloved, that thou dost so *charge us*?"
My English is not the best, but "השבעתנו=charge us" is in feminine. The woman is asked by the women of Jerusalem (my poor translation) "How is your beloved differs from other beloveds that you made (female) us swear (to tell him that you are in love..)".


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## Drink

Yes, so the question is why is it הִשְׁבַּעְתָּנוּ (the masculine form) and not הִשְׁבַּעְתִּנוּ/הִשְׁבַּעְתִּינוּ (the feminine form)?


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## GeriReshef

I guess it relates to issues related to "nikud" and to strange biblical conjugations that I am not familiar with them..
Sorry.
I hope one of the other experts will answer.


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## Ali Smith

Sorry, I just realized that the rule is:

When you connect a perfect verb to a suffix that begins with a consonant, you connect it with -a-.
When you connect an imperfect verb [ditto], you connect it with -e-.
That, I presume, is why there’s an -a- vowel here.  I admit it makes הִשְׁבַּעְתָּנוּ sound masculine.


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## Drink

Ali Smith said:


> Sorry, I just realized that the rule is:
> 
> When you connect a perfect verb to a suffix that begins with a consonant, you connect it with -a-.
> When you connect an imperfect verb [ditto], you connect it with -e-.
> That, I presume, is why there’s an -a- vowel here.  I admit it makes הִשְׁבַּעְתָּנוּ sound masculine.


That is not correct. The rule you are talking about applies when there is no subject suffix (in other words, for the suffix-conjugation, it only applies to the base form: 3rd person masculine singular). Here there is a subject suffix, so the vowel comes from the subject suffix.


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## Ali Smith

All three occurrences with a קמץ are (1) with the Hiphil of שׁבע, and (2) at the end of a verse.  One or other of those (or both) may possibly be the reason.

וַיֹּאמְר֥וּ אֵלֶ֖יהָ הָאֲנָשִׁ֑ים נְקִיִּ֣ם אֲנַ֔חְנוּ מִשְּׁבֻעָתֵ֥ךְ הַזֶּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר הִשְׁבַּעְתָּֽנוּ׃
(יהושע ב יז)

וְאִם־תַּגִּ֖ידִי אֶת־דְּבָרֵ֣נוּ זֶ֑ה וְהָיִ֣ינוּ נְקִיִּ֔ם מִשְּׁבֻעָתֵ֖ךְ אֲשֶׁ֥ר הִשְׁבַּעְתָּֽנוּ׃
(יהושע ב כ)

מַה־דּוֹדֵ֣ךְ מִדּ֔וֹד הַיָּפָ֖ה בַּנָּשִׁ֑ים מַה־דּוֹדֵ֣ךְ מִדּ֔וֹד שֶׁכָּ֖כָה הִשְׁבַּעְתָּֽנוּ׃
(שיר השירים ה ט)


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## JAN SHAR

Drink, so why is הִשְׁבַּעְתָּנוּ (the masculine form) and not הִשְׁבַּעְתִּנוּ/הִשְׁבַּעְתִּינוּ (the feminine form)?


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## Drink

It's an anomalous form I guess. I don't think there is an explanation for it. Some might ascribe to a scribal error or pointing error. But I caution that not everything that we don't understand is an error. If we too hastily label things as erroneous, we will end up missing important details.


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