וַיֹּ֨אמֶר הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ אֶל־יֹואָ֣ב שַׂר־הַחַ֣יִל אֲשֶׁר־אִתֹּ֗ו שֽׁוּט־נָ֞א בְּכָל־שִׁבְטֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ מִדָּן֙ וְעַד־בְּאֵ֣ר שֶׁ֔בַע וּפִקְד֖וּ אֶת־הָעָ֑ם וְיָ֣דַעְתִּ֔י אֵ֖ת מִסְפַּ֥ר הָעָֽם׃ ס
And the king said to Yoʾav, the commander of the army who was with him, “Go about now through all the tribes of Yisraʾel, from Dan even to Beʾer Shevaʿ, and number the people, so that I may know the number of the people.”
Morphology
- וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyomer) – Root: אמר; Form: Qal wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “And he said”; Notes: Narrative verb introducing speech.
- הַמֶּלֶךְ (ha-melekh) – Root: מלך; Form: Noun, masculine singular, definite; Translation: “the king”; Notes: Refers here to Dawid.
- אֶל־יֹואָב (el-Yoʾav) – Root: יואב; Form: Preposition + proper noun; Translation: “to Yoʾav”; Notes: Commander of Dawid’s army, son of Tseruyah.
- שַׂר־הַחַיִל (sar ha-ḥayil) – Root: שׂר, חיל; Form: Construct phrase; Translation: “commander of the army”; Notes: Title for a military leader.
- אֲשֶׁר־אִתּוֹ (asher-ittō) – Root: את; Form: Relative pronoun + preposition + 3ms suffix; Translation: “who was with him”; Notes: Modifies Yoʾav.
- שׁוּט־נָא (shut-na) – Root: שוט; Form: Qal imperative masculine singular + particle of entreaty; Translation: “go about now”; Notes: Command with polite force.
- בְּכָל־שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (be-khol-shivtei Yisraʾel) – Root: שבט; Form: Preposition + noun in construct plural + proper noun; Translation: “through all the tribes of Yisraʾel”; Notes: Refers to the tribal territories.
- מִדָּן וְעַד־בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע (mi-Dan ve-ʿad Beʾer-Shevaʿ) – Root: דן, באר, שבע; Form: Prepositions + proper nouns; Translation: “from Dan to Beʾer-Shevaʿ”; Notes: A common formula meaning the whole land of Yisraʾel, from north to south.
- וּפִקְדוּ (u-fiqedu) – Root: פקד; Form: Qal imperative masculine plural; Translation: “and number”; Notes: Addressed to Yoʾav and others under him.
- אֶת־הָעָם (et-ha-ʿam) – Root: עם; Form: Direct object marker + definite noun; Translation: “the people”; Notes: Refers to the nation of Yisraʾel.
- וְיָדַעְתִּי (ve-yadaʿti) – Root: ידע; Form: Qal perfect 1st person singular with vav-conjunctive; Translation: “so that I may know”; Notes: Expresses Dawid’s intent.
- אֵת מִסְפַּר הָעָם (et mispar ha-ʿam) – Root: ספר, עם; Form: Construct noun + definite noun; Translation: “the number of the people”; Notes: Expresses the objective of the census.