וַיֵּצֵ֣א מַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהוָ֗ה וַיַּכֶּה֙ בְּמַחֲנֵ֣ה אַשּׁ֔וּר מֵאָ֛ה וּשְׁמֹנִ֥ים וַחֲמִשָּׁ֖ה אָ֑לֶף וַיַּשְׁכִּ֣ימוּ בַבֹּ֔קֶר וְהִנֵּ֥ה כֻלָּ֖ם פְּגָרִ֥ים מֵתִֽים׃
And the angel of YHWH went out and struck in the camp of Ashshur one hundred and eighty-five thousand, and they arose early in the morning, and behold, they were all corpses, dead.
Morphology
- וַיֵּצֵ֣א (vayyetse) – Root: יצא; Form: Qal wayyiqtol (preterite) 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “And [he] went out”; Notes: Wayyiqtol form denotes narrative past action.
- מַלְאַ֣ךְ (malʾakh) – Root: מלאך; Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “angel”; Notes: Messenger, here a divine emissary.
- יְהוָ֗ה (YHWH) – Root: יהוה; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “YHWH”; Notes: Divine name.
- וַיַּכֶּה֙ (vayyakkeh) – Root: נכה; Form: Hifil wayyiqtol 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “and [he] struck”; Notes: Causative stem; denotes infliction of a fatal blow.
- בְּמַחֲנֵ֣ה (be-maḥaneh) – Root: מחנה; Form: Preposition + noun masculine singular construct; Translation: “in the camp of”; Notes: Military encampment.
- אַשּׁ֔וּר (Ashshur) – Root: אשׁור; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Ashshur”; Notes: Refers to Assyria.
- מֵאָ֛ה (meʾah) – Root: מא; Form: Numeral; Translation: “a hundred”; Notes: Begins large number phrase.
- וּשְׁמֹנִ֥ים (u-shemonim) – Root: שׁמן; Form: Conjunction + numeral; Translation: “and eighty”; Notes: Joins to prior numeral.
- וַחֲמִשָּׁ֖ה (va-ḥamishah) – Root: חמשׁ; Form: Conjunction + numeral; Translation: “and five”; Notes: Final element in composite number.
- אָלֶף (elef) – Root: אלף; Form: Noun masculine plural in counting; Translation: “thousand”; Notes: Total = 185,000.
- וַיַּשְׁכִּ֣ימוּ (vayyashkimu) – Root: שׁכם; Form: Hifil wayyiqtol 3rd person masculine plural; Translation: “and they rose early”; Notes: Indicates early morning action.
- בַבֹּ֔קֶר (va-boqer) – Root: בקר; Form: Definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “in the morning”; Notes: Indicates time of discovery.
- וְהִנֵּ֥ה (ve-hinneh) – Root: הנה; Form: Interjection; Translation: “and behold”; Notes: Emphasizes sudden realization.
- כֻלָּ֖ם (kullam) – Root: כל; Form: Noun with 3rd masculine plural suffix; Translation: “all of them”; Notes: Emphatic totality.
- פְּגָרִ֥ים (pegarim) – Root: פגר; Form: Noun masculine plural; Translation: “corpses”; Notes: Dead bodies.
- מֵתִֽים (metim) – Root: מות; Form: Participle masculine plural; Translation: “dead”; Notes: Reinforces status of the corpses.