אֲשֶׁ֨ר הָיָ֧ה דְבַר־יְהוָ֛ה אֶל־יִרְמְיָ֥הוּ הַנָּבִ֖יא אֶל־עֵילָ֑ם בְּרֵאשִׁ֗ית מַלְכ֛וּת צִדְקִיָּ֥ה מֶֽלֶךְ־יְהוּדָ֖ה לֵאמֹֽר׃
The word of YHWH that came to Yirmeyahu the prophet concerning ʿElam at the beginning of the reign of Tsidqiyyahu king of Yehuda, saying:
Morphology
- אֲשֶׁר (ʾasher) – Root: אשׁר; Form: Relative pronoun; Translation: “that / which”; Notes: Introduces the clause describing the prophetic word.
- הָיָה (hayah) – Root: היה; Form: Qal perfect 3ms; Translation: “was”; Notes: Refers to the occurrence of YHWH’s word.
- דְבַר־יְהוָה (devar-YHWH) – Root: דבר; Form: Noun masculine singular construct + divine name; Translation: “the word of YHWH”; Notes: Standard prophetic formula of revelation.
- אֶל־יִרְמְיָהוּ (ʾel-Yirmeyahu) – Root: ירמיהו; Form: Preposition + proper noun; Translation: “to Yirmeyahu”; Notes: Refers to the prophet Jeremiah.
- הַנָּבִיא (ha-naviʾ) – Root: נבא; Form: Noun masculine singular definite; Translation: “the prophet”; Notes: Identifies Jeremiah’s role.
- אֶל־עֵילָם (ʾel-ʿElam) – Root: עילם; Form: Preposition + proper noun; Translation: “concerning ʿElam”; Notes: Ancient kingdom east of Babylon and Persia.
- בְּרֵאשִׁית (be-reshit) – Root: ראשׁ; Form: Preposition בְּ + noun feminine singular construct; Translation: “at the beginning of”; Notes: Marks the historical timeframe.
- מַלְכוּת (malkhut) – Root: מלך; Form: Noun feminine singular construct; Translation: “the reign of”; Notes: Refers to the rule of a king.
- צִדְקִיָּה (Ṣidqiyyahu) – Root: צדק; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Ṣidqiyyahu (Zedekiah)”; Notes: Last king of Yehudah before the exile.
- מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה (melekh-Yehudah) – Root: מלך + יהודה; Form: Noun construct + proper noun; Translation: “king of Yehudah”; Notes: His royal title.
- לֵאמֹר (leʾemor) – Root: אמר; Form: Preposition לְ + infinitive construct; Translation: “saying”; Notes: Introduces the divine speech that follows.