וְיֵה֗וּא מָצָא֙ אֶת־אֲחֵי֙ אֲחַזְיָ֣הוּ מֶֽלֶךְ־יְהוּדָ֔ה וַיֹּ֖אמֶר מִ֣י אַתֶּ֑ם וַיֹּאמְר֗וּ אֲחֵ֤י אֲחַזְיָ֨הוּ֙ אֲנַ֔חְנוּ וַנֵּ֛רֶד לִשְׁלֹ֥ום בְּנֵֽי־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ וּבְנֵ֥י הַגְּבִירָֽה׃
And Yehu found the brothers of Aḥazyahu king of Yehuda, and he said, “Who are you?” And they said, “We are the brothers of Aḥazyahu, and we have come down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the noblewoman.”
Morphology
- וְיֵהוּא (ve-Yehu) – Root: יהוא (Yehu); Form: Conjunction + proper noun; Translation: “And Yehu”; Notes: Subject of the clause, king of Yisraʾel.
- מָצָא (matsa) – Root: מצא (m-ts-ʾ); Form: Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “found”; Notes: Introduces an unexpected encounter.
- אֶת־אֲחֵי (et-aḥei) – Root: אח (ʾ-ḥ); Form: Direct object marker + construct noun masculine plural; Translation: “the brothers of”; Notes: Direct object of the verb “found.”
- אֲחַזְיָהוּ (Aḥazyahu) – Root: אחזיהו (ʾ-ḥ-z-y-h-w); Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Aḥazyahu”; Notes: King of Yehudah.
- מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה (melekh-Yehudah) – Root: מלך / יהודה (m-l-k / y-h-d-h); Form: Construct + proper noun; Translation: “king of Yehudah”; Notes: Clarifies Aḥazyahu’s position.
- וַיֹּאמֶר (va-yomer) – Root: אמר (ʾ-m-r); Form: Qal wayyiqtol 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “and he said”; Notes: Yehu questions them.
- מִי (mi) – Form: Interrogative pronoun; Translation: “Who”; Notes: Asks identity.
- אַתֶּם (ʾattem) – Form: Independent pronoun 2nd person masculine plural; Translation: “are you?”; Notes: Completes the question with subject pronoun.
- וַיֹּאמְרוּ (va-yomru) – Root: אמר (ʾ-m-r); Form: Qal wayyiqtol 3rd person masculine plural; Translation: “and they said”; Notes: Their response begins.
- אֲחֵי (aḥei) – Root: אח (ʾ-ḥ); Form: Construct masculine plural; Translation: “brothers of”; Notes: Construct form for relationship.
- אֲחַזְיָהוּ (Aḥazyahu) – Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Aḥazyahu”; Notes: Repeated for identification.
- אֲנַחְנוּ (anaḥnu) – Form: Independent pronoun 1st person plural; Translation: “we are”; Notes: Affirming their identity.
- וַנֵּרֶד (va-nered) – Root: ירד (y-r-d); Form: Qal wayyiqtol 1st person plural; Translation: “and we came down”; Notes: Physical descent or journey.
- לִשְׁלֹום (li-shalom) – Root: שׁלם (sh-l-m); Form: Preposition + noun masculine singular; Translation: “to greet” or “in peace”; Notes: Idiomatic expression of peaceful intent or well-being visit.
- בְּנֵי־הַמֶּלֶךְ (benei-ha-melekh) – Root: בן / מלך (b-n / m-l-k); Form: Construct + definite noun; Translation: “the sons of the king”; Notes: Likely the royal family of Yisraʾel.
- וּבְנֵי (u-venei) – Form: Conjunction + construct masculine plural; Translation: “and the sons of”; Notes: Parallel construction.
- הַגְּבִירָה (ha-gevirah) – Root: גבר (g-v-r); Form: Definite noun feminine singular; Translation: “the noblewoman”; Notes: Title for the queen mother or high-status woman.