וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יֹואָ֔ב חַ֚י הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים כִּ֥י לוּלֵ֖א דִּבַּ֑רְתָּ כִּ֣י אָ֤ז מֵֽהַבֹּ֨קֶר֙ נַעֲלָ֣ה הָעָ֔ם אִ֖ישׁ מֵאַחֲרֵ֥י אָחִֽיו׃
And Yoʾav said, “As the living God lives, if you had not spoken, surely then from the morning the people would have gone up, each man from after his brother.”
Morphology
- וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (vayyomer) – Root: אמר (ʾamar); Form: Qal wayyiqtol 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “And he said”; Notes: Standard narrative form for speech.
- יֹואָ֔ב (Yoʾav) – Root: יואב (Yoʾav); Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Yoʾav”; Notes: Subject of the verb.
- חַ֚י (ḥai) – Root: חי (ḥay); Form: Adjective/noun, masculine singular; Translation: “as lives”; Notes: Introduces an oath formula.
- הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים (ha-ʾElohim) – Root: אלהים (ʾElohim); Form: Noun, masculine plural with article (treated as singular); Translation: “the God”; Notes: Used in oath formulas, though plural in form, singular in meaning.
- כִּ֥י (ki) – Root: כי (ki); Form: Conjunction; Translation: “surely / indeed”; Notes: Introduces result or affirmation.
- לוּלֵ֖א (luleʾ) – Root: לוּ (lu); Form: Conditional particle + negation; Translation: “if not”; Notes: Introduces a counterfactual condition.
- דִּבַּ֑רְתָּ (dibarta) – Root: דבר (davar); Form: Piel perfect 2nd person masculine singular; Translation: “you had spoken”; Notes: Refers to ʾAvner’s prior speech.
- כִּ֣י (ki) – Root: כי (ki); Form: Conjunction; Translation: “then”; Notes: In this conditional structure, it expresses consequence.
- אָ֤ז (ʾaz) – Root: אז (ʾaz); Form: Adverb; Translation: “then”; Notes: Time indicator tied to conditional clause.
- מֵֽהַבֹּ֨קֶר (me-ha-boqer) – Root: בקר (boqer); Form: Preposition + definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “from the morning”; Notes: Specifies the timing of what would have happened.
- נַעֲלָ֣ה (naʿalah) – Root: עלה (ʿalah); Form: Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “would have gone up”; Notes: Hypothetical action in counterfactual clause.
- הָעָ֔ם (ha-ʿam) – Root: עם (ʿam); Form: Noun, masculine singular with article; Translation: “the people”; Notes: Refers to Yoʾav’s troops.
- אִ֖ישׁ (ʾish) – Root: איש (ʾish); Form: Noun, masculine singular; Translation: “each man”; Notes: Distributive singular indicating individuals.
- מֵאַחֲרֵ֥י (meʾaḥarei) – Root: אחר (ʾaḥar); Form: Preposition + construct; Translation: “from after”; Notes: Indicates cessation of pursuit.
- אָחִֽיו׃ (aḥiv) – Root: אח (ʾaḥ); Form: Noun masculine singular + 3rd person masculine singular suffix; Translation: “his brother”; Notes: Emphasizes kinship among combatants.