וְהִנֵּה־ה֡וּא שָׂם֩ עֲלִילֹ֨ת דְּבָרִ֜ים לֵאמֹ֗ר לֹֽא־מָצָ֤אתִי לְבִתְּךָ֙ בְּתוּלִ֔ים וְאֵ֖לֶּה בְּתוּלֵ֣י בִתִּ֑י וּפָֽרְשׂוּ֙ הַשִּׂמְלָ֔ה לִפְנֵ֖י זִקְנֵ֥י הָעִֽיר׃
And behold, he has set forth false accusations, saying, “I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.” But these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.
Morphology
- וְהִנֵּה־ה֡וּא (ve-hinneh hu) – Root: הנה (hinneh); Form: Interjection with independent pronoun; Translation: “And behold, he”; Notes: Introduces the accusation.
- שָׂם֩ (sam) – Root: שים (sim); Form: Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “he has set forth”; Notes: Indicates the act of making an accusation.
- עֲלִילֹ֨ת דְּבָרִ֜ים (‘alilot devarim) – Root: עלל / דבר (‘alal / davar); Form: Noun feminine plural construct + noun masculine plural; Translation: “false accusations”; Notes: Used in a legal sense.
- לֵאמֹ֗ר (leemor) – Root: אמר (amar); Form: Infinitive construct with preposition; Translation: “saying”; Notes: Introduces direct speech.
- לֹֽא־מָצָ֤אתִי (lo-matzati) – Root: מצא (matza); Form: Qal perfect 1st person singular; Translation: “I did not find”; Notes: Refers to the claimed lack of virginity.
- לְבִתְּךָ֙ (le-bitecha) – Root: בת (bat); Form: Noun feminine singular construct with 2nd person masculine singular pronominal suffix; Translation: “to your daughter”; Notes: Possessive form.
- בְּתוּלִ֔ים (betulim) – Root: בתול (betul); Form: Noun masculine plural; Translation: “virginity”; Notes: Denotes the state of being a virgin.
- וְאֵ֖לֶּה (ve-elleh) – Root: אלה (elleh); Form: Demonstrative pronoun masculine plural; Translation: “But these are”; Notes: Introduces the counter-evidence.
- בְּתוּלֵ֣י בִתִּ֑י (betulei biti) – Root: בתול / בת (betul / bat); Form: Noun masculine plural construct + noun feminine singular construct; Translation: “the tokens of my daughter’s virginity”; Notes: The physical proof.
- וּפָֽרְשׂוּ֙ (u-farsu) – Root: פרש (parash); Form: Qal perfect 3rd person plural; Translation: “and they shall spread”; Notes: Indicates the act of displaying evidence.
- הַשִּׂמְלָ֔ה (ha-simlah) – Root: שמלה (simlah); Form: Noun feminine singular definite; Translation: “the cloth”; Notes: Refers to the sheet with the evidence.
- לִפְנֵ֖י (lifnei) – Root: פנה (panah); Form: Preposition with noun masculine plural construct; Translation: “before”; Notes: Denotes the presentation.
- זִקְנֵ֥י הָעִֽיר (ziqnei ha-ir) – Root: זקן / עיר (zaqen / ir); Form: Noun masculine plural construct + noun feminine singular definite; Translation: “the elders of the city”; Notes: Legal authorities in the case.