וַיֹּֽאמֶר־לָ֥הּ הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ מַה־לָּ֑ךְ וַתֹּ֗אמֶר הָאִשָּׁ֨ה הַזֹּ֜את אָמְרָ֣ה אֵלַ֗י תְּנִ֤י אֶת־בְּנֵךְ֙ וְנֹאכְלֶ֣נּוּ הַיֹּ֔ום וְאֶת־בְּנִ֖י נֹאכַ֥ל מָחָֽר׃
And the king said to her, “What is with you?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son and we will eat him today, and my son we will eat tomorrow.’”
Morphology
- וַיֹּֽאמֶר־לָ֥הּ (va-yomer-lah) – Root: אמר; Form: Qal wayyiqtol 3rd masculine singular + prepositional suffix 3rd feminine singular; Translation: “And he said to her”; Notes: Direct address by the king.
- הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ (ha-melekh) – Root: מלך; Form: Definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “the king”; Notes: Subject of the speech.
- מַה־לָּ֑ךְ (mah-lakh) – Root: מה + לך; Form: Interrogative + preposition with 2nd feminine singular suffix; Translation: “What is with you?”; Notes: Idiomatic expression for “What troubles you?”
- וַתֹּ֗אמֶר (va-toʾmer) – Root: אמר; Form: Qal wayyiqtol 3rd feminine singular; Translation: “And she said”; Notes: Shift to the woman’s reply.
- הָאִשָּׁ֨ה הַזֹּ֜את (ha-ishah ha-zot) – Root: אשה, זה; Form: Definite noun feminine singular + demonstrative adjective feminine singular; Translation: “This woman”; Notes: Subject of the woman’s complaint.
- אָמְרָ֣ה (amrah) – Root: אמר; Form: Qal perfect 3rd feminine singular; Translation: “said”; Notes: Refers to the speech of the other woman.
- אֵלַ֗י (elai) – Root: אל; Form: Preposition with 1st person singular suffix; Translation: “to me”; Notes: Indicates direction of speech.
- תְּנִ֤י (teni) – Root: נתן; Form: Qal imperative 2nd feminine singular; Translation: “Give”; Notes: Command from one woman to another.
- אֶת־בְּנֵךְ֙ (et-benekh) – Root: בן; Form: Definite direct object marker + noun masculine singular with 2nd feminine singular suffix; Translation: “your son”; Notes: Direct object of the command.
- וְנֹאכְלֶ֣נּוּ (ve-nokhlennu) – Root: אכל; Form: Qal cohortative 1st person plural + 3rd masculine singular suffix; Translation: “and we will eat him”; Notes: Expresses a proposed action.
- הַיֹּ֔ום (ha-yom) – Root: יום; Form: Definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “today”; Notes: Specifies timing.
- וְאֶת־בְּנִ֖י (ve-et-beni) – Root: בן; Form: Conjunction + definite direct object marker + noun with 1st person singular suffix; Translation: “and my son”; Notes: Coordinated object for the next clause.
- נֹאכַ֥ל (noʾkhal) – Root: אכל; Form: Qal imperfect 1st person plural; Translation: “we will eat”; Notes: Parallel action to the previous eating.
- מָחָֽר (maḥar) – Root: מחר; Form: Adverb; Translation: “tomorrow”; Notes: Completes the temporal sequence of the shocking proposal.