The Adjective. Comparison

The Adjective. Comparison
§ 33. The language possesses no elative form of the adj. Comparison is made by the simple form, followed by prep. ‏מִן‎, Genesis 3:1-24. I ‏עָרוּם מִכֹּל חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה‎ more cunning than all the beasts; Deuteronomy 11:23 ‏גּוֹיִם גְּדֹלִים מִכֶּם‎ nations greater than you; Hosea 2:7 ‏כִּי טוֹב לִי אָז מֵעָֽתָּה‎ it was better for me then than now; 1 Samuel 9:2 ‏גָּבֹהַּ מִכָּל־הָעָם‎ taller. Judges 14:18, 1 Samuel 24:17, 2 Samuel 19:7. With better the subj. is often a clause (inf.), Genesis 29:19, Psalms 118:8-9, Proverbs 21:3, Proverbs 21:9 (§ 89).
(b) The quality (tertium comp.) is often expressed by a verb, Genesis 41:40 ‏אֶגְדַּל מִמֶּֽךָּ‎ I will be greater than thou; Genesis 29:30 ‏וַיֶּֽאֱֶהַב אֶת־רָחֵל מִלֵּאָה‎ he loved R. more than L., 2 Samuel 1:23 ‏מִנְּשָׁרִים קַלּוּ מֵֽאְַרָיוֹת גָּבֵרוּ‎ they were swifter than eagles and stronger than lions. Genesis 19:9 ‏עַתָּה נָרַע לְךָ מֵהֶם‎ now will we treat thee worse than them. Genesis 37:4; Genesis 48:19, Deuteronomy 7:7, Judges 2:19, 1 Samuel 18:30, 2 Samuel 6:22; 2 Samuel 18:8; 2 Samuel 20:5-6, 1 Kings 4:30; 1 Kings 4:11; 1 Kings 10:23; 1 Kings 14:9.
§ 34. The superlative is expressed by the simple adj. with Art., or followed by gen. of a noun or pron., 1 Samuel 17:14 ‏וְדָוִד הוּא הַקָּטָן‎ and David was the youngest; 1 Samuel 18:17 ‏בִּתִּי הַגְּדוֹלָה‎ my eldest (elder) daughter, Deuteronomy 21:3.—2 Kings 10:6 ‏גְּדֹלֵי הָעִיר‎ the greatest men of the city; Jeremiah 6:13 ‏מִקְּטַנָּם וְעַד־גְּדוֹלָם‎ from the least of them, &c. Genesis 9:24; Genesis 10:21; Genesis 29:16; Genesis 42:13; Genesis 43:29, Judges 6:15; Judges 15:2, 1 Samuel 9:21, Micah 7:4, Jonah 3:5, 2 Chronicles 21:17, Psalms 45:12, Job 30:6 (§ 32, R. 5). Absolute superlativeness is expressed by ‏מְאֹד‎ very (a noun in acc.), Judges 3:17 ‏בָּרִיא מְאֹד‎ very fat, Genesis 12:14; Genesis 41:31, which may be intensified by prep. ‏עַד‎, 1 Kings 1:4 ‏הַנַּֽעְַרָה יָפָה עַד־מְאֹד‎ the girl was extremely pretty, 2 Samuel 2:17, Genesis 27:33; in later style ‏בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד‎ Ezekiel 9:9; or ‏מ׳‎ is repeated without prep., Numbers 14:7.
Rem. 1. In form a few words correspond to the Ar. elative ('afdalu), as ‏אַכְזָר‎ cruel, ‏אַכְזָב‎ deceptive, ‏אֵיתָן‎ perennial. But in Ar. many adj. of this form have no compar. sense, 'ahmaru, red; 'ahmaqu, foolish.
Rem. 2. The adj. or verb with ‏מן‎ may often be rendered by too, or rather than. Genesis 18:14 ‏הְַיִפָּלֵא מֵֽי׳ דָּבָר‎ is anything too hard for Je. (Deuteronomy 17:8, Jeremiah 32:17, Jeremiah 32:27), Judges 7:2, ‏רב מִתִּתִּי‎ too many for me to give, 1 Kings 8:64 ‏קטן מֵֽהָכִיל‎ too small to contain, Genesis 4:13 ‏גדול מִנְּשׂוֹא‎ too great to bear, Psalms 61:2 the rock ‏יָרוּם מִמֶּנִּי‎ too high for me, Isaiah 49:6 too light to be, Exodus 18:18, 1 Kings 19:7, Genesis 26:16; Genesis 36:7, Rth_1:12, Habakkuk 1:13, Psalms 139:12 too dark for thee (to see). So with ‏מְעַט‎ Isaiah 7:13 is wearying men too little? Numbers 16:9.—Hosea 6:6 knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings; Psalms 52:3 evil rather than good, Habakkuk 2:16; Habakkuk 2:2 S. 19:44, where perhaps rd. ‏בְּכוֹר‎ for ‏בדוד‎, first-born rather than thou (Sep.).
Rem. 3. The word expressing the quality is occasionally omitted, Isaiah 10:10 (greater or more) than those of Jer., Job 11:17 (clearer) than noon. In Micah 7:4; Isaiah 40:17; Isaiah 41:24, Psalms 62:9, ‏מהבל‎ the prep. is partitive or explicative, of (consisting of) vanity.
Rem. 4. The consn. with ‏מן‎ is sometimes virtually a superlative, 1 Samuel 15:33 ‏תִּשְׁכַּל מִנָּשַׁים אִמְּךָ‎ the most bereaved of women (lit. bereaved above w.).—A superl. sense is expressed by joining a noun with its own pl. in the gen., Genesis 9:25 a slave of slaves (lowest slave), Exodus 26:33 holy of holies (most holy), Isaiah 34:10 eternity of eternities (all eternity), Ecclesiastes 1:2 vanity of vanities (absolute vanity), Son_1:1, Ezekiel 16:7, Deuteronomy 10:17. 1 Kings 8:27, though such phrases had at first sometimes a lit. sense.
Rem. 5. Just as the simple adj. the abstract noun with gen. conveys superl. meaning, as ‏טוּב‎ the best, Genesis 45:18, Isaiah 1:19, ‏מֵיטָב‎ the best 1 Samuel 15:9, 1 Samuel 15:15, ‏מִבְחָר‎ the choicest Exodus 15:4, Deuteronomy 12:11, ‏רֹאשׁ‎, ‏רֵאשִׁית‎ the chiefest, Numbers 24:20, Amos 6:1, Amos 6:6.
Rem. 6. A kind of superl. sense is given to a word by connecting it with the divine name. Probably the idea was that God originated the thing (as Ar.), or that it belonged to Him, and was therefore extraordinary. Sometimes the meaning appears to be "in God's estimation," Genesis 10:9. Cf. Jonah 3:3 ‏עִיר גְּדוֹלָה לֵֽאלֹהִים‎ (Acts 7:20); Psalms 36:6; Psalms 68:16; Psalms 80:11; Psalms 104:16, Son_8:6, 1 Chronicles 12:23.—1 Samuel 14:15; 1 Samuel 26:12 (Genesis 30:8 seems different).