וְהָיָ֛ה כִּֽי־יֹאמְר֥וּ אֵלֶ֖יךָ אָ֣נָה נֵצֵ֑א וְאָמַרְתָּ֨ אֲלֵיהֶ֜ם כֹּֽה־אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר לַמָּ֤וֶת לַמָּ֨וֶת֙ וַאֲשֶׁ֤ר לַחֶ֨רֶב֙ לַחֶ֔רֶב וַאֲשֶׁ֤ר לָֽרָעָב֙ לָֽרָעָ֔ב וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר לַשְּׁבִ֖י לַשֶּֽׁבִי׃
And it shall be, when they say to you, ‘Where shall we go out?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says YHWH: “Whoever is for death, to death, and whoever is for the sword, to the sword, and whoever is for the famine, to the famine, and whoever is for captivity, to captivity.”’
Morphology
- וְהָיָה (ve-hayah) – Root: היה (hayah); Form: Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular with vav-consecutive; Translation: “And it shall be”; Notes: Introduces a future or hypothetical situation.
- כִּי־יֹאמְרוּ (ki-yomru) – Root: אמר (ʾamar); Form: Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural; Translation: “when they say”; Notes: Conditional clause introduced by כִּי (“ki”).
- אֵלֶיךָ (eilekha) – Root: אל (ʾel); Form: Preposition + 2nd person masculine singular suffix; Translation: “to you”; Notes: Addressed to the prophet.
- אָנָה (ʾanah) – Root: —; Form: Interrogative adverb; Translation: “Where”; Notes: Introduces a question of destination.
- נֵצֵא (netseʾ) – Root: יצא (yatsaʾ); Form: Qal imperfect 1st person plural; Translation: “shall we go out”; Notes: Speaker includes himself with the audience.
- וְאָמַרְתָּ (ve-amarta) – Root: אמר (ʾamar); Form: Qal perfect 2nd person masculine singular with vav-consecutive; Translation: “then you shall say”; Notes: Response to the question.
- אֲלֵיהֶם (aleihem) – Root: על (ʿal); Form: Preposition + 3rd person masculine plural suffix; Translation: “to them”; Notes: Refers back to the questioning people.
- כֹּה (koh) – Root: —; Form: Demonstrative adverb; Translation: “Thus”; Notes: Common prophetic formula introducing divine speech.
- אָמַר (ʾamar) – Root: אמר (ʾamar); Form: Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “says”; Notes: In formulaic usage, “thus says YHWH.”
- יְהוָה (YHWH) – Root: היה (h-y-h); Form: Proper noun; Translation: “YHWH”; Notes: The covenantal name of the God of Yisraʾel.
- אֲשֶׁר (ʾasher) – Root: —; Form: Relative pronoun; Translation: “whoever”; Notes: Introduces distributive clauses.
- לַמָּוֶת (la-mavet) – Root: מות (mavet); Form: Preposition לְ + definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “to death”; Notes: Assigned destiny for some among the people.
- לַמָּוֶת (la-mavet) – Root: מות (mavet); Form: Repeated phrase; Translation: “to death”; Notes: Repetition reinforces inevitable judgment.
- וַאֲשֶׁר (va-ʾasher) – Root: —; Form: Conjunction + relative pronoun; Translation: “and whoever”; Notes: Continues the divine distribution.
- לַחֶרֶב (la-ḥerev) – Root: חרב (ḥerev); Form: Preposition לְ + definite noun feminine singular; Translation: “to the sword”; Notes: Denotes violent death in battle.
- לַחֶרֶב (la-ḥerev) – Root: חרב (ḥerev); Form: Repetition; Translation: “to the sword”; Notes: Reinforces the fate assigned.
- וַאֲשֶׁר (va-ʾasher) – Root: —; Form: Conjunction + relative pronoun; Translation: “and whoever”; Notes: Continues series of judgments.
- לָרָעָב (la-raʿav) – Root: רעב (raʿav); Form: Preposition לְ + definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “to the famine”; Notes: Represents suffering by deprivation of food.
- לָרָעָב (la-raʿav) – Root: רעב (raʿav); Form: Repetition; Translation: “to the famine”; Notes: Parallelism for emphasis.
- וַאֲשֶׁר (va-ʾasher) – Root: —; Form: Conjunction + relative pronoun; Translation: “and whoever”; Notes: Introduces final category.
- לַשְּׁבִי (la-shevi) – Root: שבה (shavah); Form: Preposition לְ + definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “to captivity”; Notes: Refers to exile or deportation.
- לַשֶּׁבִי (la-shevi) – Root: שבה (shavah); Form: Repetition; Translation: “to captivity”; Notes: Final fate listed; the pattern reinforces divine justice.