וַֽיְהִי֙ בִּשְׁנַ֣ת שָׁלֹ֔שׁ לְהֹושֵׁ֥עַ בֶּן־אֵלָ֖ה מֶ֣לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל מָלַ֛ךְ חִזְקִיָּ֥ה בֶן־אָחָ֖ז מֶ֥לֶךְ יְהוּדָֽה׃
And it was in the third year of Hoshea son of Ela king of Yisraʾel, Ḥizqiyya son of Aḥaz king reigned over Yehuda.
Morphology
- וַֽיְהִי (va-yehi) – Root: היה (hayah); Form: Qal wayyiqtol (narrative past) 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “And it was”; Notes: Typical narrative opening for chronological statements.
- בִּשְׁנַ֣ת (bishnat) – Root: שׁנה (shanah); Form: Preposition בְּ + construct noun feminine singular; Translation: “in the year of”; Notes: Marks a time frame with ordinal number following.
- שָׁלֹ֔שׁ (shalosh) – Root: שלשׁ (shalosh); Form: Cardinal number feminine; Translation: “three”; Notes: Feminine to agree with “year.”
- לְהֹושֵׁ֥עַ (le-Hoshea) – Root: ישע (yashaʿ); Form: Preposition לְ + proper noun; Translation: “of Hoshea”; Notes: Refers to the reigning king of Yisraʾel.
- בֶּן־אֵלָ֖ה (ben-Elah) – Root: בן (ben), אלה (Elah); Form: Construct noun + proper noun; Translation: “son of Elah”; Notes: Standard genealogical phrasing.
- מֶ֣לֶךְ (melekh) – Root: מלך (melekh); Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “king”; Notes: Denotes Hoshea’s position.
- יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל (Yisraʾel) – Root: ישראל (Yisraʾel); Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Yisraʾel”; Notes: The northern kingdom.
- מָלַ֛ךְ (malakh) – Root: מלך (malakh); Form: Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “reigned”; Notes: Main verb indicating beginning of reign.
- חִזְקִיָּ֥ה (Ḥizqiyyah) – Root: חזק (ḥazaq); Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Ḥizqiyyah”; Notes: Southern king entering into reign.
- בֶן־אָחָ֖ז (ben-Aḥaz) – Root: בן (ben), אחז (Aḥaz); Form: Construct noun + proper noun; Translation: “son of Aḥaz”; Notes: Genealogical note identifying his father.
- מֶ֥לֶךְ (melekh) – Root: מלך (melekh); Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “king”; Notes: Appositional title of Ḥizqiyyah.
- יְהוּדָֽה (Yehudah) – Root: יהודה (Yehudah); Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Yehudah”; Notes: The southern kingdom, intentionally placed last in both Hebrew and English for syntactic fidelity.