וַיִּנָּ֤גְפוּ שָׁם֙ עַ֣ם יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לִפְנֵ֖י עַבְדֵ֣י דָוִ֑ד וַתְּהִי־שָׁ֞ם הַמַּגֵּפָ֧ה גְדֹולָ֛ה בַּיֹּ֥ום הַה֖וּא עֶשְׂרִ֥ים אָֽלֶף׃
And the people of Yisraʾel were struck down there before the servants of Dawid, and the slaughter there was great on that day—twenty thousand.
Morphology
- וַיִּנָּ֤גְפוּ (vay-yinnāgefu) – Root: נגף; Form: Wayyiqtol (vav-consecutive) Nifal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural; Translation: “And they were struck down”; Notes: Passive verb describing defeat in battle.
- שָׁם (sham) – Root: שׁם; Form: Adverb of place; Translation: “there”; Notes: Indicates location of the defeat.
- עַ֣ם (ʿam) – Root: עם; Form: Noun, masculine singular, absolute; Translation: “people”; Notes: Subject of the verb.
- יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל (Yisraʾel) – Root: ישראל; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Yisraʾel”; Notes: Identifies the people defeated in battle.
- לִפְנֵ֖י (lifnei) – Root: פנה; Form: Preposition with construct form; Translation: “before”; Notes: Indicates subjection to an opposing force.
- עַבְדֵ֣י (ʿavdei) – Root: עבד; Form: Noun, masculine plural construct with 3rd person masculine singular suffix; Translation: “servants of”; Notes: Construct phrase linked with Dawid.
- דָוִ֑ד (Dawid) – Root: דוד; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Dawid”; Notes: Refers to King Dawid.
- וַתְּהִי־ (va-tehi) – Root: היה; Form: Wayyiqtol (vav-consecutive) Qal imperfect 3rd person feminine singular; Translation: “And there was”; Notes: Introduces the next narrative event.
- שָׁ֞ם (sham) – Root: שׁם; Form: Adverb of place; Translation: “there”; Notes: Emphasizes location of the event.
- הַמַּגֵּפָ֧ה (ha-maggēfah) – Root: נגף; Form: Noun, feminine singular, definite; Translation: “the slaughter”; Notes: Indicates a deadly blow or plague, used here as battle loss.
- גְדֹולָ֛ה (gedolah) – Root: גדל; Form: Adjective, feminine singular absolute; Translation: “great”; Notes: Describes the magnitude of the slaughter.
- בַּיֹּ֥ום (ba-yom) – Root: יום; Form: Preposition with noun, masculine singular definite; Translation: “on the day”; Notes: Temporal expression indicating time.
- הַה֖וּא (ha-hu) – Root: הוא; Form: Demonstrative pronoun, masculine singular; Translation: “that”; Notes: Specifies which day is meant.
- עֶשְׂרִ֥ים (esrim) – Root: עשר; Form: Numeral; Translation: “twenty”; Notes: Cardinal number.
- אָֽלֶף (elef) – Root: אלף; Form: Noun, masculine singular in number construction; Translation: “thousand”; Notes: Part of numerical expression—”twenty thousand.”