1 Kings 3:23

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ זֹ֣את אֹמֶ֔רֶת זֶה־בְּנִ֥י הַחַ֖י וּבְנֵ֣ךְ הַמֵּ֑ת וְזֹ֤את אֹמֶ֨רֶת֙ לֹ֣א כִ֔י בְּנֵ֥ךְ הַמֵּ֖ת וּבְנִ֥י הֶחָֽי׃ פ

And the king said, “This one says, ‘This is my son, the living, and your son is the dead,’ and this one says, ‘No! But your son is the dead, and my son is the living.’”

Morphology

1. וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (vayyomer) – Root: אמר; Form: Qal wayyiqtol 3ms; Translation: “And he said”; Notes: Introduces the speech of the king.
2. הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ (ha-melekh) – Root: מלך; Form: Noun, masculine singular definite; Translation: “the king”; Notes: Subject of the verb; refers to Shelomoh.
3. זֹ֣את (zot) – Root: זה; Form: Demonstrative pronoun, feminine singular; Translation: “this one”; Notes: Refers to the first woman.
4. אֹמֶ֔רֶת (omeret) – Root: אמר; Form: Qal participle, feminine singular; Translation: “says”; Notes: Present tense speech attribution.
5. זֶה־בְּנִ֥י (zeh-benī) – Root: זה, בן; Form: Demonstrative pronoun + noun construct with 1cs suffix; Translation: “This is my son”; Notes: Claim of maternity.
6. הַחַ֖י (ha-ḥai) – Root: חיה; Form: Adjective, masculine singular definite; Translation: “the living”; Notes: Modifies “my son.”
7. וּבְנֵ֣ךְ (u-venekh) – Root: בן; Form: Conjunction + noun construct + 2fs suffix; Translation: “and your son”; Notes: Second half of the comparison.
8. הַמֵּ֑ת (ha-met) – Root: מות; Form: Qal participle, masculine singular definite; Translation: “the dead”; Notes: Completes the contrast with the living child.
9. וְזֹ֤את (ve-zot) – Form: Conjunction + demonstrative pronoun, feminine singular; Translation: “and this one”; Notes: Refers to the second woman.
10. אֹמֶ֨רֶת (omeret) – Form: As above; Translation: “says”
11. לֹ֣א (lo) – Form: Negative particle; Translation: “No”; Notes: Emphatic contradiction.
12. כִ֔י (ki) – Form: Conjunction (adversative); Translation: “but”; Notes: Introduces alternative claim.
13. בְּנֵ֥ךְ (venekh) – Form: As above; Translation: “your son”
14. הַמֵּ֖ת (ha-met) – Form: As above; Translation: “the dead”
15. וּבְנִ֥י (u-venī) – Form: Conjunction + noun construct with 1cs suffix; Translation: “and my son”
16. הֶחָֽי (he-ḥai) – Form: Adjective, masculine singular definite (with article prefix he-); Translation: “the living”; Notes: Reverses the earlier statement, reinforcing the dispute.