- The sign of the definite object

[Marie Lynn]

Are there any other uses, of the word אֵת other than as direct object indicator, OR as the meaning - "with?"



I see it used to show the definite object so as to avoid confusing it with the subject, such as:
לָקַח אֶת-בֶּן-הַמֶּלֶךְ 'he took the son of the king.' Without the את This would read 'The son of the king took' לָקַח בֶּן-הַמֶּלֶךְ

But also, as the word (with), one such example is in Genesis 17: v. 21 - וְאֶת-בְּרִיתִי אָקִים אֶת-יִצְחָק - Both uses are applied here, the first is a sign of the definite object, and the second use means 'with.'
"and My covenant I will establish with Isaac."

Another question on this is whether a proper noun would ever take the article? לָקַח אֶת-שְׁמוּאֵל - He took Samuel.

Thank you,

 

[yonah_mishael]

First, proper names are already definite, so they will not take an article. (In modern Hebrew, we sometimes do this like we do in English: הוא הרובין הוד שלנו "He's our Robin Hood." Cases like this are never found in older Hebrew.)

Second, the word אֵת bears these two meanings in Hebrew. Most of the time (but not always) when it means "with" it takes different point from when it is the marker of the definite object. Instead of the -o- vowel, it takes an -i- vowel.

אִתִּי "with me"
אֹתִי "me" (as the object of a verb)

הוא ראה אֹתִי ברחוב
"he saw me in the street"

הוא דיבר אִתִּי על הנושא
"he spoke with me about the topic"

In both cases, it is considered a sort of preposition in Hebrew (milat yachas). We don't translate the cases where it refers to a direct object, just as we don't translate the בְּ after the verb להשתמש "to use" (השתמשתי במחשב של אחי "I used my brother's computer" rather than "I used in my brother's computer"). We don't have a need for this preposition in English, but it is a basic part of the grammar in Hebrew.

 

[varsity]

Much less commonly the word refers to a cutting instrument. Then it is usually translated as ploughshare as in Is 2:4.

 

[yonah_mishael]

True that. Isaiah 2:4 -
וְשָׁפַט בֵּין הַגּוֹיִם וְהוֹכִיחַ לְעַמִּים רַבִּים וְכִתְּתוּ חַרְבוֹתָם לְאִתִּים וַחֲנִיתוֹתֵיהֶם לְמַזְמֵרוֹת לֹא יִשָּׂא גוֹי אֶל גּוֹי חֶרֶב וְלֹא יִלְמְדוּ עוֹד מִלְחָמָה׃

 

[Marie Lynn]

Second, the word אֵת bears these two meanings in Hebrew. Most of the time (but not always) when it means "with" it takes different point from when it is the marker of the definite object. Instead of the -o- vowel, it takes an -i- vowel.

אִתִּי "with me"
אֹתִי "me" (as the object of a verb)

הוא ראה אֹתִי ברחוב
"he saw me in the street"

הוא דיבר אִתִּי על הנושא
"he spoke with me about the topic"

Thank you Yonah, that helps in understanding the difference between the two, (with me, verses - me, and the o-vowel, i-vowel) as both these appear often in Tanach.