# Amathi is the genitive of what?



## Drink

IONAS 1:1 in the Vulgate reads "et factum est verbum Domini ad Ionam filium *Amathi* dicens". Thus, Amathi is clearly the genitive of Jonah's father's name. What would the nominative have been, knowing that Biblical names do not always follow the most obvious declension patterns? Also, what would the rest of the declension look like?


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## CapnPrep

The declension is _Amathi_, _Amathi_, _Amathi_, _Amathi_, …  Most of the Hebrew/Semitic names in the Vulgate are indeclinable. Some have Latinized or Hellenized forms, and are declinable, like _Ionas_, which is first declension.


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## bearded

> CapnPrep:
> _Ionas, _which is first declension


Presumably you mean first declension in Greek, since - to my knowledge - in Latin no name/noun in the 1st declension has a nominative with an -as ending.
In Latin, I think it should be _Iona(nom.), Ionae(gen.+dat.), Ionam(acc.), Iona(voc.). _In case you possess different/contrary evidence, I'll gladly read it.


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## CapnPrep

bearded man said:


> In Latin, I think it should be _Iona(nom.), Ionae(gen.+dat.), Ionam(acc.), Iona(voc.)._


That is what I call the 1st declension in Latin… (And the nominative is _Ionas_.)


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## Drink

CapnPrep said:


> The declension is _Amathi_, _Amathi_, _Amathi_, _Amathi_, …  Most of the Hebrew/Semitic names in the Vulgate are indeclinable. Some have Latinized or Hellenized forms, and are declinable, like _Ionas_, which is first declension.



Thanks! But just to be thorough, _if_ it were declinable, which patterns would it most likely fit?


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## fdb

The name “Jonah” is declinable in LXX and Vulgata. Thus we have nom. sing. Iωνας, Ionas in 1:3, but acc. sing. Iωναν, Ionam in 1:1.

The name of his father, on the other hand, is simply transcribed from the Hebrew, אמתי, LXX Aμαθι, Vulgata Amathi. The Greek cannot be construed as the genitive of anything other than itself; the Latin could theoretically be the genitive of *Amathus, but the comparison of the other version shows that this analysis would be wrong.


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## CapnPrep

fdb said:


> The name of his father, on the other hand, is simply transcribed from the Hebrew, אמתי, LXX Aμαθι, Vulgata Amathi.


Any idea why the Hebrew _Amittai_ turned into _Amathi_ in Greek/Latin?


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## fdb

Here, as often, the Septuagint has preserved a pre-Masoretic reading of the Hebrew name.


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