וּמֶ֥לֶךְ אֵ֛ין בֶּאֱדֹ֖ום נִצָּ֥ב מֶֽלֶךְ׃
And there was no king in Edom; a deputy was king.
Morphology
- וּמֶלֶךְ (u-melekh) – Root: מלך (melekh); Form: Conjunction + noun masculine singular; Translation: “And a king”; Notes: Begins a statement of political absence; parallel to “there was no king.”
- אֵין (ʾein) – Root: אין (ʾein); Form: Negative existential particle; Translation: “there was no”; Notes: Denotes absence or nonexistence of a subject.
- בֶּאֱדֹום (be-ʾEdom) – Root: אדום (ʾEdom); Form: Preposition + proper noun masculine singular; Translation: “in Edom”; Notes: Refers to the nation south of Yehudah, often in political tension with Yisraʾel and Yehudah.
- נִצָּב (nitsav) – Root: נצב (natsav); Form: Niphal participle masculine singular; Translation: “a deputy” / “a stand-in”; Notes: Indicates a royal representative or governor appointed in place of a native king.
- מֶלֶךְ (melekh) – Root: מלך (melekh); Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “king”; Notes: Concludes with the idea that the appointed official functioned as king though not sovereign by lineage.