I am curious if the word shabbat שבת has ever taken the plural form of shabbatim? I had a dream about this word. In this dream, it was used in a spoken two word phrase with "shabbatim" being the first word. I do not know hebrew and I cannot recall the second word.

I later learned that the normal plural form is shabbatot. So now I'm wondering if it has ever been used the other way. If so, can you explain the context of its use with this other form? Thank you.

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    shabbat is feminine so the plural form is shabatot. But indeed in yiddish you can find שבתים – J.A Jun 11 at 17:27
  • FYI, there are only 5 words in Hebrew ending with ת and being masculine - זית, צומת, בית and I forgot some. – Al Berko Jun 11 at 18:07

I'd like to clarify @JA's comment.

The Torah uses the male form to describe the singular שבת as in Vayikra 23:32, and sometimes in female form as in Vayikra 23:3. However, the plural is always שבתות which has the feminine ending, as in Vayikra 23:16.

There is no known place in Tanac"h that uses the word "shabbatim". I believe that Talmud follows the same rules. "Shabbosim" seems to be Yiddish, and it has been incorporated into yeshivish lingo in the same way that the yeshivish plural for "Tallis" is "tallisim" (or "tallaisim") which is not Hebrew.

  • I'm not convinced 23:32 is using שבת in a masculine sense. It probably just means "This day [יום from pasuk 28, which is masculine] is a שבת שבתון". – Heshy Jun 11 at 18:32
  • @Heshy It's pretty tough to show that an adjective is modifying a noun that exists several verses away. But, you're welcome to convince me otherwise. – DanF Jun 12 at 13:26

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