וַיֹּ֨אמֶר֙ הַצֹּפֶ֔ה אֲנִ֤י רֹאֶה֙ אֶת־מְרוּצַ֣ת הָרִאשֹׁ֔ון כִּמְרֻצַ֖ת אֲחִימַ֣עַץ בֶּן־צָדֹ֑וק וַיֹּ֤אמֶר הַמֶּ֨לֶךְ֙ אִֽישׁ־טֹ֣וב זֶ֔ה וְאֶל־בְּשֹׂורָ֥ה טֹובָ֖ה יָבֹֽוא׃
And the watchman said, “I see the running of the first as the running of Aḥimaʿats son of Tsadoq.” And the king said, “This is a good man; with good news he comes.”
Morphology
- וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyomer) – Root: אמר; Form: Wayyiqtol Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular; Translation: “And he said”; Notes: Refers to the watchman speaking.
- הַצֹּפֶה (ha-tsofeh) – Root: צפה; Form: Definite Qal active participle masculine singular; Translation: “the watchman”; Notes: Subject of the clause.
- אֲנִי (ʾani) – Root: אני; Form: Independent pronoun 1st person singular; Translation: “I”; Notes: Emphasizes the speaker.
- רֹאֶה (roʾeh) – Root: ראה; Form: Qal participle masculine singular; Translation: “am seeing”; Notes: Continuous perception.
- אֶת־מְרוּצַת (et-merutsat) – Root: רוץ; Form: Direct object marker + noun feminine singular in construct; Translation: “the running of”; Notes: Construct with “the first.”
- הָרִאשׁוֹן (ha-rishon) – Root: ראשׁ; Form: Definite adjective masculine singular; Translation: “the first”; Notes: Refers to the first runner approaching.
- כִּמְרֻצַת (ki-merutsat) – Root: רוץ; Form: Preposition + noun feminine singular construct; Translation: “as the running of”; Notes: Comparison phrase.
- אֲחִימַעַץ (Aḥimaʿats) – Root: אחימעץ; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Aḥimaʿats”; Notes: Identified by his running style.
- בֶּן־צָדֹוק (ben-Tsadoq) – Root: בן, צדק; Form: Construct noun + proper noun; Translation: “son of Tsadoq”; Notes: Patronymic reference.
- וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyomer) – Root: אמר; Form: Wayyiqtol Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular; Translation: “And he said”; Notes: Transition to king’s speech.
- הַמֶּלֶךְ (ha-melekh) – Root: מלך; Form: Definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “the king”; Notes: Speaker of the response.
- אִישׁ־טוֹב (ish-tov) – Root: אישׁ, טוב; Form: Noun + adjective masculine singular; Translation: “a good man”; Notes: Evaluative statement about Aḥimaʿats.
- זֶה (zeh) – Root: זה; Form: Demonstrative masculine singular; Translation: “this one”; Notes: Refers to Aḥimaʿats approaching.
- וְאֶל־בְּשֹׂורָה (ve-el-besorah) – Root: בשר; Form: Conjunction + preposition + noun feminine singular; Translation: “and with news”; Notes: Indicates purpose of arrival.
- טוֹבָה (tovah) – Root: טוב; Form: Adjective feminine singular; Translation: “good”; Notes: Qualifies the type of news.
- יָבֹוא (yavo) – Root: בוא; Form: Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular; Translation: “he comes”; Notes: Describes expectation of his arrival.