In the Shabas table song "M'nucha v'simcha", God is credited as
having created What does this mean? It would seem to translate
literally as "animal of ראםs". Now, we do find a singular noun
being used for a whole group of things (as in Baer Hetev OC
489:9), even where that noun is, as here, construct (though I
can't think of any examples offhand with a construct noun). So
we can translate this instead as "animals of ראםs". That's more
readable, but still, what are animals of ראםs (as opposed to
ראםs themselves)? The חית, "animals of", here seems to be not
just superfluous, adding nothing, but against the usual style or
diction of Hebrew. An argument that the unusual construction is
necessary for purposes of meter is weak in my opinion, as
another creation could have been substituted: instead of "תנין
ואדם וחית ראמים", perhaps "תנין וצפור אדם וראמים". Note that the
items listed as having been created are listed pretty much in
order of their creation — "sky, earth, seas, all the armies on
high [= presumably sta