לֹ֣א אֶל־עַמִּ֣ים רַבִּ֗ים עִמְקֵ֤י שָׂפָה֙ וְכִבְדֵ֣י לָשֹׁ֔ון אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־תִשְׁמַ֖ע דִּבְרֵיהֶ֑ם אִם־לֹ֤א אֲלֵיהֶם֙ שְׁלַחְתִּ֔יךָ הֵ֖מָּה יִשְׁמְע֥וּ אֵלֶֽיךָ׃
Not to many peoples, deep of speech and heavy of tongue, whose words you cannot understand. If not to them I had sent you, they would have listened to you.
Morphology
- לֹא (lo) – Root: —; Form: Negative particle; Translation: “Not”; Notes: Denies the direction of the sending.
- אֶל־ (ʾel) – Root: אל; Form: Preposition; Translation: “to”; Notes: Introduces the recipient of the sending.
- עַמִּים (ʿammim) – Root: עם; Form: Noun masculine plural absolute; Translation: “peoples”; Notes: Refers to nations or ethnic groups.
- רַבִּים (rabbim) – Root: רבב; Form: Adjective masculine plural absolute; Translation: “many”; Notes: Describes the multitude of peoples.
- עִמְקֵי (ʿimqei) – Root: עמק; Form: Noun masculine plural construct; Translation: “deep of”; Notes: Indicates obscurity or difficulty of speech.
- שָׂפָה (safah) – Root: שׂפה; Form: Noun feminine singular absolute; Translation: “speech/language”; Notes: Refers to manner of speaking or foreign tongue.
- וְכִבְדֵי (ve-khivdei) – Root: כבד; Form: Adjective masculine plural construct; Translation: “and heavy of”; Notes: Indicates difficulty in understanding.
- לָשֹׁון (lashon) – Root: לשׁון; Form: Noun feminine singular absolute; Translation: “tongue”; Notes: Figuratively refers to language or speech.
- אֲשֶׁר (ʾasher) – Root: —; Form: Relative pronoun; Translation: “which/whose”; Notes: Introduces the clause “whose words you cannot understand.”
- לֹא (lo) – Root: —; Form: Negative particle; Translation: “not”; Notes: Denies comprehension.
- תִשְׁמַע (tishmaʿ) – Root: שׁמע; Form: Qal imperfect 2nd person masculine singular; Translation: “you hear”; Notes: Here in modal sense: “you can understand.”
- דִּבְרֵיהֶם (divreihem) – Root: דבר; Form: Noun masculine plural construct + 3rd person masculine plural suffix; Translation: “their words”; Notes: Speech or language of foreign peoples.
- אִם־לֹא (ʾim-lo) – Root: —; Form: Conditional particle + negation; Translation: “if not”; Notes: Introduces a contrary-to-fact condition.
- אֲלֵיהֶם (ʾaleihem) – Root: אל; Form: Preposition אֶל + third person masculine plural suffix; Translation: “to them”; Notes: Marks hypothetical mission to foreign peoples.
- שְׁלַחְתִּיךָ (shelaḥtikha) – Root: שלח; Form: Qal perfect 1st person common singular + 2nd person masculine singular suffix; Translation: “I had sent you”; Notes: Hypothetical past condition: if God had sent Ezekiel to them.
- הֵמָּה (hemmah) – Root: —; Form: Independent pronoun masculine plural; Translation: “they”; Notes: Emphatic subject pronoun.
- יִשְׁמְעוּ (yishmeʿu) – Root: שׁמע; Form: Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural; Translation: “they would hear/listen”; Notes: Expresses hypothetical willingness of foreigners to heed the prophet.
- אֵלֶיךָ (ʾeleikha) – Root: אל; Form: Preposition אֶל + second person masculine singular suffix; Translation: “to you”; Notes: Refers to Ezekiel as the addressee.