Amos 5:20

הֲלֹא־חֹ֛שֶׁךְ יֹ֥ום יְהוָ֖ה וְלֹא־אֹ֑ור וְאָפֵ֖ל וְלֹא־נֹ֥גַֽהּ לֹֽו׃

Is not the day of YHWH darkness and not light, even gloom without brightness in it?

Morphology

1. הֲלֹא (halo) – Root: לא (lo); Form: Interrogative particle + negative particle; Translation: “Is it not?”; Notes: Introduces a rhetorical question affirming the statement that follows.
2. חֹשֶׁךְ (ḥoshekh) – Root: חשׁך (ḥashakh); Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “darkness”; Notes: Symbol of judgment, calamity, or divine wrath rather than illumination or blessing.
3. יֹום (yom) – Root: יום (yom); Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “day”; Notes: Refers to “the day of YHWH,” a motif of divine reckoning and punishment.
4. יְהוָה (YHWH) – Root: הוה (hvh); Form: Proper noun, divine name; Translation: “YHWH”; Notes: The covenantal name of the God of Yisraʾel, whose day brings judgment rather than deliverance here.
5. וְלֹא־ (ve-lo) – Root: לא (lo); Form: Conjunction וְ + negative particle; Translation: “and not”; Notes: Negates the expected element of “light” in the “day of YHWH.”
6. אֹור (ʾor) – Root: אור (ʾor); Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “light”; Notes: Represents blessing, truth, or divine favor — which will be absent on that day.
7. וְאָפֵל (ve-afel) – Root: אפל (ʾafel); Form: Conjunction וְ + adjective masculine singular; Translation: “and gloom”; Notes: Describes thick darkness or obscurity, intensifying the imagery of dread.
8. וְלֹא־ (ve-lo) – Root: לא (lo); Form: Conjunction וְ + negative particle; Translation: “and not”; Notes: Continues the negation for the following noun “brightness.”
9. נֹגַהּ (nogah) – Root: נגה (nagah); Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “brightness” or “radiance”; Notes: Refers to light’s brilliance—here absent to stress the total absence of hope.
10. לֹו (lo) – Root: הוא (huʾ); Form: Preposition לְ + suffix 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “in it”; Notes: Refers back to “the day of YHWH,” underscoring that no light exists within that day.