שׁנא
be a noun, derived with a little irregularity from
ישׁן
, he slept, it has nothing to do with sleep. It cannot be the participle of
ישׁן
, for that verb has a participle in the usual form, not wanting the initial
י
, which occurs in several places in the Old Testament, and is used by Mendelsohn in the very sentence Mr. Margoliouth has quoted from that Jewish expositor. The critic who will not acknowledge
שׁנא
to be a noun in this clause, is therefore tied up to translating it as either the participle or the preterite of