וְהִקְרִ֤יחוּ אֵלַ֨יִךְ֙ קָרְחָ֔ה וְחָגְר֖וּ שַׂקִּ֑ים וּבָכ֥וּ אֵלַ֛יִךְ בְּמַר־נֶ֖פֶשׁ מִסְפֵּ֥ד מָֽר׃
And they shall make themselves bald for you and gird themselves with sackcloth, and they shall weep for you with bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning.
Morphology
- וְהִקְרִיחוּ (ve-hikriḥu) – Root: קרח (qaraḥ); Form: Hifil wayyiqtol (narrative past) 3rd person masculine plural; Translation: “and they made bald” or “they shaved their heads”; Notes: A ritual act of mourning in the ancient Near East, symbolizing grief and humiliation.
- אֵלַיִךְ (ʾelayikh) – Root: אל (ʾel); Form: Preposition אֶל + suffix 2nd person feminine singular; Translation: “for you” or “toward you”; Notes: Directs the mourning action toward Tyre, personified as the object of lamentation.
- קָרְחָה (qarḥah) – Root: קרח (qaraḥ); Form: Noun feminine singular; Translation: “baldness”; Notes: Represents the visible sign of grief, achieved by shaving the head as a mourning gesture.
- וְחָגְרוּ (ve-ḥagru) – Root: חגר (ḥagar); Form: Qal wayyiqtol (narrative past) 3rd person masculine plural; Translation: “and they girded themselves”; Notes: Refers to the act of binding or putting on sackcloth as a sign of mourning and repentance.
- שַׂקִּים (saqqim) – Root: שׂק (saq); Form: Noun masculine plural; Translation: “sackcloth”; Notes: Coarse garments made of goat hair, worn during mourning or penitence, representing humiliation and sorrow.
- וּבָכוּ (u-vakhu) – Root: בכה (bakah); Form: Qal wayyiqtol (narrative past) 3rd person masculine plural; Translation: “and they wept”; Notes: A common expression of mourning; emotional lamentation over destruction or death.
- אֵלַיִךְ (ʾelayikh) – Root: אל (ʾel); Form: Preposition אֶל + suffix 2nd person feminine singular; Translation: “for you”; Notes: Repetition strengthens the focus of grief directed toward Tyre.
- בְּמַר־נֶפֶשׁ (be-mar-nefesh) – Root: מרר (marar); Form: Preposition בְּ + adjective masculine singular construct + noun feminine singular; Translation: “with bitterness of soul”; Notes: Expresses deep anguish and internal sorrow, suggesting despair at Tyre’s downfall.
- מִסְפֵּד (misped) – Root: ספד (safad); Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “mourning”; Notes: Refers to formal lamentation or funeral rites, often performed publicly.
- מָר (mar) – Root: מרר (marar); Form: Adjective masculine singular; Translation: “bitter”; Notes: Emphasizes the intensity of the grief, forming a parallelism with “bitterness of soul.”