Psalm 20/Notes/Phrasal.v. 8.804831

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  • In chariotry: בָ֭רֶכֶב has an article (בְ - הַ - רֶכֶב). The article is used to refer to all members of a certain class (in a group of chariots >> in chariotry)[1]. This use of the definite article can also be referred to as the generic article. "The generic article may be used with a collective singular."[2]
  • In horses: בַסּוּסִ֑ים has an article (בְ - הַ - סוּסִים). The article is used to refer to all members of a certain class. No specific horses are in view in this verse; rather, all things that belong to the class horses[3]; i.e., something (namely military might) is asserted of the horses, which applies to the whole (in the horses >> in horses).[4]
  1. ↑ The Hebrew word רֶכֶב refers to "a group of chariots, usually owned by one single person -- chariotry" (SDBH).
  2. ↑ IBHS, 13.5.1f.
  3. ↑ סוּס: "used in battle, both to ride and for pulling chariots; ≈ symbolic of military might" (SDBH)
  4. ↑ Classes or species (generic use): "when a plural noun is thought to comprise all the individuals of the class or of the species, it takes the article" (JM 2006, 477; §137i).