Cohortative mood

The cohortative mood (also known as Intentional; "cohortative subjunctive" is also synonymous with "hortatory subjunctive") is a grammatical mood, used to express plea, insistence, imploring, self-encouragement, wish, desire, intent, command, purpose or consequence. It is similar to the jussive mood, with the notable exception that the cohortative appears only in first person, whereas the jussive appears in second or third. Cohoratives are found in several languages, including Ancient Greek and Biblical Hebrew. In English they are expressed by such verbal auxiliaries as "let" and "should", yet this is misleading, as it implies a request for confirmation not always intended in the original text.

Cohortative in Biblical Hebrew

While not found in modern Hebrew, the cohortative mood has an important role in Biblical Hebrew, where it was represented by a lengthened future form; namely adding the vowel 'ā' (adding of the letter ה) at the end of an already conjugated verb.

Cohortatives are often found in the Hebrew Bible. One example is found in Genesis 1:26:

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..."

"ויאמר אלהים נעשה אדם בצלמנו כדמותינו..."

The verb "let us make" (נעשה) is problematic, as it is found in plural form, whereas Judaism believes in a single god. One explanation for this is the notion that God consulted the angels which he created earlier. Another explanation, however, is that this verb comes in fact in the cohortative mood, now extinct in Hebrew. (Polytheists and Trinitarian Christians often interpret this passage and others like it as indicating actual plurality in the nature of the God or gods depicted, the cohortative thus being a true first person plural.)