וַיָּ֤חֶל יֹונָה֙ לָבֹ֣וא בָעִ֔יר מַהֲלַ֖ךְ יֹ֣ום אֶחָ֑ד וַיִּקְרָא֙ וַיֹּאמַ֔ר עֹ֚וד אַרְבָּעִ֣ים יֹ֔ום וְנִֽינְוֵ֖ה נֶהְפָּֽכֶת׃
And Yona began to go into the city a journey of one day, and he called and said, “Yet forty days and Nineve is overturned.”
Morphology
- וַיָּחֶל (va-yakhel) – Root: חלל (ḥalal); Form: Hifil wayyiqtol (narrative past) 3ms; Translation: “And he began”; Notes: Marks the start of Yonah’s prophetic activity in Nineweh.
- יֹונָה (Yonah) – Root: יֹונָה (Yonah); Form: Proper noun masculine singular; Translation: “Yonah”; Notes: Subject of the verb.
- לָבֹוא (la-vo) – Root: בוא (bo); Form: Preposition לְ + infinitive construct; Translation: “to go/enter”; Notes: Indicates the action Yonah begins.
- בָּעִיר (ba-ʿir) – Root: עיר (ʿir); Form: Preposition בְּ + definite noun feminine singular; Translation: “into the city”; Notes: Refers to Nineweh.
- מַהֲלַךְ (mahalakh) – Root: הלך (halakh); Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “a journey”; Notes: Indicates measured walking distance.
- יֹום (yom) – Root: יום (yom); Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “a day”; Notes: Duration of the distance Yonah walks into the city.
- אֶחָד (eḥad) – Root: אחד (eḥad); Form: Numeral masculine singular; Translation: “one”; Notes: Modifies “day.”
- וַיִּקְרָא (va-yikra) – Root: קרא (qaraʾ); Form: Qal wayyiqtol (narrative past) 3ms; Translation: “and he called”; Notes: Yonah publicly proclaims the divine warning.
- וַיֹּאמַר (va-yomar) – Root: אמר (amar); Form: Qal wayyiqtol (narrative past) 3ms; Translation: “and he said”; Notes: Introduces the quoted prophetic message.
- עוֹד (ʿod) – Root: עוד (ʿod); Form: Adverb; Translation: “yet”; Notes: Signals a countdown before judgment.
- אַרְבָּעִים (arbaʿim) – Root: ארבע (arbaʿ); Form: Numeral masculine plural; Translation: “forty”; Notes: Forty is a symbolic period of testing or judgment.
- יֹום (yom) – Root: יום (yom); Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “days”; Notes: Part of the prophetic time limit.
- וְנִינְוֵה (ve-Nineweh) – Root: נינוה (Ninweh); Form: Conjunction וְ + proper noun feminine singular; Translation: “and Nineweh”; Notes: Subject of the impending judgment.
- נֶהְפָּכֶת (nehpakhét) – Root: הפך (hafakh); Form: Nifal participle feminine singular; Translation: “is overturned”; Notes: Can imply destruction or transformation, intentionally ambiguous.