וְלַֽעֲמָשָׂא֙ תֹּֽמְר֔וּ הֲלֹ֛וא עַצְמִ֥י וּבְשָׂרִ֖י אָ֑תָּה כֹּ֣ה יַֽעֲשֶׂה־לִּ֤י אֱלֹהִים֙ וְכֹ֣ה יֹוסִ֔יף אִם־֠לֹא שַׂר־צָבָ֞א תִּהְיֶ֧ה לְפָנַ֛י כָּל־הַיָּמִ֖ים תַּ֥חַת יֹואָֽב׃
And to ʿAmasa you shall say, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? Thus may God do to me, and thus may he add, if you will not be commander of the army before me all the days instead of Yoʾav.’”
Morphology
- וְלַעֲמָשָׂא (ve-laʿămāsāʾ) – Root: עמשׂא; Form: Conjunction + preposition + proper noun; Translation: “And to ʿAmasa”; Notes: Recipient of the command.
- תֹּמְרוּ (tomru) – Root: אמר; Form: Qal imperfect 2nd person masculine plural; Translation: “you shall say”; Notes: Command to the messengers.
- הֲלֹוא (haloʾ) – Root: לא; Form: Interrogative particle; Translation: “Are you not”; Notes: Introduces rhetorical affirmation.
- עַצְמִי (ʿatsmi) – Root: עצם; Form: Noun feminine singular with 1st person singular suffix; Translation: “my bone”; Notes: Part of the idiom “bone and flesh.”
- וּבְשָׂרִי (u-vĕśārī) – Root: בשר; Form: Conjunction + noun masculine singular with 1st person singular suffix; Translation: “and my flesh”; Notes: Emphasizes kinship.
- אָתָּה (attah) – Root: אתה; Form: Independent pronoun masculine singular; Translation: “you”; Notes: Personal identification.
- כֹּה (koh) – Root: כה; Form: Adverb; Translation: “Thus”; Notes: Used in oath formula.
- יַעֲשֶׂה־לִּי (yaʿăśeh-lī) – Root: עשה; Form: Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular + 1st person singular suffix; Translation: “may he do to me”; Notes: Common in oath statements.
- אֱלֹהִים (ʾElohim) – Root: אלה; Form: Noun masculine plural (with singular meaning here); Translation: “Elohim”; Notes: Refers to God.
- וְכֹה (ve-koh) – Root: כה; Form: Conjunction + adverb; Translation: “and thus”; Notes: Continues oath formula.
- יֹוסִיף (yosif) – Root: יסף; Form: Hifil imperfect 3rd masculine singular; Translation: “may he add”; Notes: Continues oath, intensifying punishment.
- אִם־לֹא (im-loʾ) – Root: אם, לא; Form: Conditional particle + negative particle; Translation: “if not”; Notes: Begins conditional statement.
- שַׂר־צָבָא (sar-tsavāʾ) – Root: שר, צבא; Form: Construct noun + noun masculine singular; Translation: “commander of the army”; Notes: Military title.
- תִּהְיֶה (tihyeh) – Root: היה; Form: Qal imperfect 2nd masculine singular; Translation: “you shall be”; Notes: Verb of state.
- לְפָנַי (lefanai) – Root: פן; Form: Preposition + 1st person singular suffix; Translation: “before me”; Notes: Indicates official capacity in the king’s presence.
- כָּל־הַיָּמִים (kol-ha-yamim) – Root: כל, יום; Form: Construct noun + definite noun masculine plural; Translation: “all the days”; Notes: Idiom for “continually” or “forever.”
- תַּחַת (taḥat) – Root: תחת; Form: Preposition; Translation: “instead of”; Notes: Denotes replacement or succession.
- יֹואָב (Yoʾav) – Root: יואב; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Yoʾav”; Notes: Refers to the previous army commander.