וַיֹּ֣אמֶר הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ שָׁלֹ֥ום לַנַּ֖עַר לְאַבְשָׁלֹ֑ום וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲחִימַ֡עַץ רָאִיתִי֩ הֶהָמֹ֨ון הַגָּדֹ֜ול לִ֠שְׁלֹחַ אֶת־עֶ֨בֶד הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ יֹואָב֙ וְאֶת־עַבְדֶּ֔ךָ וְלֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְתִּי מָֽה׃
And the king said, “Is it well with the young man, with Avshalom?” And Aḥimaʿats said, “I saw a great tumult when the servant of the king, Yoʾav, sent and also your servant, but I did not know what it was.”
Morphology
- וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyomer) – Root: אמר; Form: Wayyiqtol Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular; Translation: “And he said”; Notes: Refers to the king speaking.
- הַמֶּלֶךְ (ha-melekh) – Root: מלך; Form: Definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “the king”; Notes: Subject of the speech.
- שָׁלֹום (shalom) – Root: שׁלם; Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “Peace” / “Is it well”; Notes: A question about Avshalom’s well-being.
- לַנַּעַר (la-naʿar) – Root: נער; Form: Preposition + definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “with the young man”; Notes: Refers to Avshalom.
- לְאַבְשָׁלֹם (le-Avshalom) – Root: אבשלום; Form: Preposition + proper noun; Translation: “with Avshalom”; Notes: Specifies the young man in question.
- וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyomer) – Root: אמר; Form: Wayyiqtol Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular; Translation: “And he said”; Notes: Refers to Aḥimaʿats speaking.
- אֲחִימַעַץ (Aḥimaʿats) – Root: אחימעץ; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Aḥimaʿats”; Notes: Messenger to the king.
- רָאִיתִי (raʾiti) – Root: ראה; Form: Qal perfect 1st person singular; Translation: “I saw”; Notes: Aḥimaʿats’ report of what he witnessed.
- הֶהָמֹון (he-hamon) – Root: המון; Form: Definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “the tumult” / “the commotion”; Notes: Suggests confusion or noise.
- הַגָּדֹול (ha-gadol) – Root: גדל; Form: Definite adjective masculine singular; Translation: “great”; Notes: Describes the magnitude of the tumult.
- לִשְׁלֹחַ (lishloaḥ) – Root: שלח; Form: Infinitive construct with preposition; Translation: “to send”; Notes: Refers to Yoʾav sending messengers.
- אֶת־עֶבֶד (et-ʿeved) – Root: עבד; Form: Direct object marker + noun masculine singular construct; Translation: “the servant of”; Notes: Construct with “the king.”
- הַמֶּלֶךְ (ha-melekh) – Root: מלך; Form: Definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “the king”; Notes: Possessor of the servant.
- יֹואָב (Yoʾav) – Root: יואב; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Yoʾav”; Notes: The one who sent the messengers.
- וְאֶת־עַבְדֶּךָ (ve-et-ʿavdekha) – Root: עבד; Form: Conjunction + direct object marker + noun masculine singular with 2nd person masculine singular suffix; Translation: “and your servant”; Notes: Refers to Aḥimaʿats himself.
- וְלֹא (ve-lo) – Root: לא; Form: Conjunction + negative particle; Translation: “and not”; Notes: Introduces negation of knowledge.
- יָדַעְתִּי (yadaʿti) – Root: ידע; Form: Qal perfect 1st person singular; Translation: “I knew”; Notes: Indicates lack of understanding or awareness.
- מָה (mah) – Root: מה; Form: Interrogative pronoun; Translation: “what”; Notes: Object of “knew”—i.e., what had happened.