And whenever any species/type comes in singular – the custom of the language is to add on the prefix letter ה, which teaches about all of the species/type. And if it comes on a proper noun, then the ה will be a definite article.

And from this, the sages of blessed memory conclude that the noun האזרח (home-born) is a species/type name in all of the Scripture, except when האזרח is written with respect to סוכה (booths)¹¹⁷; there is a law that Moses received at Mount Sinai that there it is a noun with the status of a verb.

A definite article is a word that is used with a noun to indicate that the noun is specific. In English, the word “the” is the only definite article. In Hebrew, the prefixהis the only definite article.

Leviticus 16:29 says,והיתה לכם לחקת עולם בחדש השביעי בעשור לחדש תענו את נפשתיכם וכל מלאכה לא תעשו האזרח והגר הגר בתוככם(And it shall be a statute for ever to you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no manner of work, the home-born, or the stranger that resides among you), using the noun האזרח to mean home-born. Theהis interpreted to mean that האזרח is a species/type name, indicating that it includes homeborn women as well as men¹¹⁸.

There are laws that Moses received at Mount Sinai, which have no reference in the Scripture, but were nevertheless transmitted orally since the time of Moses. One such law is the interpretation that in Leviticus 23:42, האזרח is a noun with the status of a verb.

footnotes: ¹¹⁷ Leviticus 23:42. ¹¹⁸ Malbim, HaTorah v’HaMitzvah Acharei Mot 74.