וַיְהִ֥י דְבַר־יְהוָ֖ה אֵלַ֥י לֵאמֹֽר׃
And the word of YHWH came to me, saying.
Morphology
- וַיְהִי (va-yehi) – Root: היה (hayah); Form: Qal wayyiqtol (narrative past) 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “And it came to be”; Notes: Introduces a prophetic formula, setting the stage for divine speech.
- דְבַר (devar) – Root: דבר (davar); Form: Noun masculine singular construct; Translation: “word of”; Notes: Construct form governing the following divine name, a frequent formula in prophetic literature.
- יְהוָה (YHWH) – Root: הוה (havah); Form: Proper noun, Tetragrammaton; Translation: “YHWH”; Notes: Covenant name of Israel’s God, here as the source of revelation.
- אֵלַי (ʾelay) – Root: אל (ʾel); Form: Preposition אֶל + first person common singular suffix; Translation: “to me”; Notes: Indicates the recipient of the divine word, the prophet.
- לֵאמֹר (leʾemor) – Root: אמר (ʾamar); Form: Preposition לְ + infinitive construct; Translation: “saying”; Notes: Standard infinitive construct introducing direct divine speech, often left untranslated in English idiom but preserved here for literalness.