הֹבִ֣ישׁוּ אִכָּרִ֗ים הֵילִ֨ילוּ֙ כֹּֽרְמִ֔ים עַל־חִטָּ֖ה וְעַל־שְׂעֹרָ֑ה כִּ֥י אָבַ֖ד קְצִ֥יר שָׂדֶֽה׃
Be ashamed, O farmers; wail, O vine-dressers, for the wheat and for the barley, for the harvest of the field has perished.
Morphology
- הֹבִישׁוּ (hovishu) – Root: בושׁ; Form: Hiphil imperative 2nd person masculine plural; Translation: “be ashamed”; Notes: A call to humiliation or repentance; Hiphil form gives causative sense—“cause yourselves to feel shame.”
- אִכָּרִים (ikkarim) – Root: אכר; Form: Noun masculine plural; Translation: “farmers,” “tillers of the soil”; Notes: Refers to those who cultivate the land; their livelihood now ruined.
- הֵילִילוּ (heylilu) – Root: ילל; Form: Piel imperative 2nd person masculine plural; Translation: “wail”; Notes: Command to lament loudly; Piel intensifies the emotional expression of grief.
- כֹּרְמִים (kormim) – Root: כרם; Form: Noun masculine plural; Translation: “vine-dressers,” “vine-growers”; Notes: Those tending vineyards; paired with farmers to encompass all agricultural workers.
- עַל (ʿal) – Root: על; Form: Preposition; Translation: “for,” “over”; Notes: Introduces the cause of lamentation—loss of crops.
- חִטָּה (ḥittah) – Root: חטה; Form: Noun feminine singular; Translation: “wheat”; Notes: Principal grain of Yisraʾel’s agriculture; symbolizes sustenance and daily bread.
- וְעַל (ve-ʿal) – Root: על; Form: Conjunction וְ + preposition עַל; Translation: “and for”; Notes: Links both grains as reasons for mourning.
- שְׂעֹרָה (seʿorah) – Root: שׂער; Form: Noun feminine singular; Translation: “barley”; Notes: Another key grain crop; used for bread and offerings, its destruction deepens the famine image.
- כִּי (ki) – Root: כי; Form: Conjunction; Translation: “for,” “because”; Notes: Introduces the explanatory cause of grief.
- אָבַד (avad) – Root: אבד; Form: Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “has perished,” “is lost”; Notes: Describes total loss or destruction of the harvest.
- קְצִיר (qetsir) – Root: קצר; Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “harvest”; Notes: Refers to reaped produce; figuratively the result of human labor now lost.
- שָׂדֶה (sadeh) – Root: שׂדה; Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “field”; Notes: Denotes cultivated land; the source of the nation’s sustenance now barren and fruitless.