Adjective Ordinal Number¶
Summary¶
In Biblical Hebrew, ordinal numbers are used to express a rank or order of items in a series (first, second, third, etc.) or to express a part of a whole (a third, a fourth, a fifth, etc.).
Article¶
Biblical Hebrew contains two sets of numbers: cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers. Ordinal numbers describe either a numeric rank/order or a portion of a whole. “First” through “tenth” have unique ordinal forms, but the cardinal forms are used from “eleventh” and higher. Ordinal numbers function as attributive adjectives, but they may not always have the same grammatical form (gender, number, definiteness) as the noun they describe.
Note
Sometimes a cardinal form is used, but an ordinal meaning is clearly indicated from the context (see examples below).
“First” through “Tenth”¶
word | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
masculine | רִאֹשׁוֹן | ri’oshon | first |
masculine | שֵׁנִי | sheni | second |
masculine | שְׁלִישִׁי | shelishi | third |
masculine | רְבִיעִי | rebi’i | fourth |
masculine | חֲמִישִׁי | hamishi | fifth |
masculine | שִׁשִּׁי | shishi | sixth |
masculine | שְׁבִיעִי | shevi’i | seventh |
masculine | שְׁמִינִי | shemini | eighth |
masculine | תְּשִׁיעִי | teshi’i | ninth |
masculine | עֲשִׂירִי | ‘asiri | tenth |
בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשֵּׁנִ֗ית |
bashanah hashenith |
in-the-year the-second |
in the second year |
The following example is a definite ordinal number describing an indefinite noun.
וְי֙וֹם֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י |
weyom hashevi’i |
and-day the-seventh |
and the seventh day |
The following examples show cardinal numbers functioning as ordinal numbers.
בִּשְׁנַ֣ת שְׁתַּ֔יִם |
bishnath shetayim |
in-year two |
in the second year |
שֵׁם֩ הָאֶחָ֨ד … וְשֵׁ֧ם הַשֵּׁנִ֣י |
ushene ‘anashim … weshem hasheni |
name-of the-one … and-name-of the-two |
the name of the first … and the name of the second |
“Eleventh” and higher¶
The cardinal forms are used for ordinal numbers higher than ten (“eleventh”, “twelfth”, etc.).
בְּשִׁבְעָֽה־עָשָׂ֥ר יֹ֖ום |
beshiv’ah-‘asar yowm |
in seven_ten day |
on the seventeenth day |
וְה֖וּא בִּשְׁנֵ֣ים הֶעָשָׂ֑ר |
wehu bishnem he’asar |
and-he in-two the-ten |
and he was with the twelfth |