אָר֣וּר הַיֹּ֔ום אֲשֶׁ֥ר יֻלַּ֖דְתִּי בֹּ֑ו יֹ֛ום אֲשֶׁר־יְלָדַ֥תְנִי אִמִּ֖י אַל־יְהִ֥י בָרֽוּךְ׃
Cursed be the day on which I was born! The day my mother bore me, let it not be blessed!
Morphology
- אָר֣וּר (ʾarur) – Root: ארר; Form: Qal passive participle masculine singular; Translation: “Cursed”; Notes: Serves as a predicate adjective expressing a malediction.
- הַיֹּ֔ום (hayyom) – Root: יום; Form: Noun masculine singular with definite article; Translation: “the day”; Notes: Refers to a specific, fateful day—in this context, Jeremiah’s birthday.
- אֲשֶׁ֥ר (ʾasher) – Root: אשר; Form: Relative pronoun; Translation: “which”; Notes: Introduces a relative clause explaining the previous noun.
- יֻלַּ֖דְתִּי (yulladti) – Root: ילד; Form: Pual perfect 1st person common singular; Translation: “I was born”; Notes: Passive stem (Pual) indicating action done to the subject.
- בֹּ֑ו (bo) – Root: בוא; Form: Preposition + pronominal suffix 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “on it”; Notes: Refers back to “the day.”
- יֹ֛ום (yom) – Root: יום; Form: Noun masculine singular (absolute); Translation: “day”; Notes: Repetition for emphasis—poetic parallelism.
- אֲשֶׁר־יְלָדַ֥תְנִי (ʾasher-yeladatni) – Root: ילד; Form: Qal perfect 3rd person feminine singular + 1st person singular suffix; Translation: “that bore me”; Notes: Refers to the mother; suffix indicates Jeremiah as the object.
- אִמִּ֖י (immi) – Root: אם; Form: Noun feminine singular + 1st person singular suffix; Translation: “my mother”; Notes: Subject of the previous verb, in construct with the suffix.
- אַל־יְהִ֥י (ʾal-yehi) – Root: היה; Form: Negative particle + Qal jussive 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “let it not be”; Notes: Jussive mood expressing a negative wish or command.
- בָרֽוּךְ׃ (barukh) – Root: ברך; Form: Qal passive participle masculine singular; Translation: “blessed”; Notes: Contrasts with the earlier “cursed.” This marks the poetic inverse.