וַיֹּ֣אמֶר חֲזָהאֵ֔ל כִּ֣י מָ֤ה עַבְדְּךָ֙ הַכֶּ֔לֶב כִּ֣י יַעֲשֶׂ֔ה הַדָּבָ֥ר הַגָּדֹ֖ול הַזֶּ֑ה וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלִישָׁ֔ע הִרְאַ֧נִי יְהוָ֛ה אֹתְךָ֖ מֶ֥לֶךְ עַל־אֲרָֽם׃
And Ḥazaʾel said, “But what is your servant, the dog, that he should do this great thing?” And Elisha said, “YHWH has shown me you as king over Aram.”
Morphology
- וַיֹּאמֶר (va-yomer) – Root: אמר; Form: Qal wayyiqtol 3ms; Translation: “And he said”; Notes: Introduces Ḥazaʾel’s response to Elisha’s revelation.
- חֲזָהאֵל (Ḥazaʾel) – Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Ḥazaʾel”; Notes: The speaker, servant of Ben-Hadad.
- כִּי (ki) – Root: כי; Form: Conjunction; Translation: “But” / “For”; Notes: Used here emphatically or rhetorically.
- מָה (mah) – Root: מה; Form: Interrogative pronoun; Translation: “what”; Notes: Begins a rhetorical question of self-disparagement.
- עַבְדְּךָ (ʿavdekha) – Root: עבד; Form: Noun masculine singular + 2ms suffix; Translation: “your servant”; Notes: Expression of humility.
- הַכֶּלֶב (ha-kelev) – Root: כלב; Form: Definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “the dog”; Notes: Pejorative self-reference indicating lowliness.
- כִּי (ki) – Root: כי; Form: Conjunction; Translation: “that”; Notes: Introduces a subordinate clause.
- יַעֲשֶׂה (yaʿaseh) – Root: עשה; Form: Qal imperfect 3ms; Translation: “he should do”; Notes: Refers to the future potential action.
- הַדָּבָר הַגָּדֹול הַזֶּה (ha-davar ha-gadol ha-zeh) – Root: דבר, גדל, זה; Form: Definite noun + attributive adjective + demonstrative; Translation: “this great thing”; Notes: Refers to the atrocities Elisha foresaw.
- וַיֹּאמֶר (va-yomer) – Root: אמר; Form: Qal wayyiqtol 3ms; Translation: “And he said”; Notes: Elisha’s prophetic reply.
- אֱלִישָׁע (ʾElishaʿ) – Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Elisha”; Notes: Subject of the prophetic vision.
- הִרְאַנִי (hirʾani) – Root: ראה; Form: Hifil perfect 3ms + 1cs suffix; Translation: “has shown me”; Notes: Refers to YHWH’s prophetic revelation to Elisha.
- יְהוָה (YHWH) – Form: Proper noun; Translation: “YHWH”; Notes: The divine source of the vision.
- אֹתְךָ (otekha) – Root: את; Form: Object pronoun 2ms; Translation: “you”; Notes: Direct object of the verb “shown.”
- מֶלֶךְ (melekh) – Root: מלך; Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “king”; Notes: Predicate of the vision.
- עַל־אֲרָם (ʿal-Aram) – Root: ארם; Form: Preposition + proper noun; Translation: “over Aram”; Notes: Indicates the kingdom Ḥazaʾel will rule.