וַיָּ֤רֶב הָעָם֙ עִם־מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ תְּנוּ־לָ֥נוּ מַ֖יִם וְנִשְׁתֶּ֑ה וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהֶם֙ מֹשֶׁ֔ה מַה־תְּרִיבוּן֙ עִמָּדִ֔י מַה־תְּנַסּ֖וּן אֶת־יְהוָֽה׃
And the people quarreled with Moshe and said, “Give us water so that we may drink.” And Moshe said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test YHWH?”
Morphology
- וַיָּ֤רֶב (vayyariv) – Root: ריב (r-y-v); Form: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3ms with vav consecutive; Translation: “And he quarreled”; Notes: Refers to the people’s action of arguing with Moshe.
- הָעָם֙ (haʿam) – Root: עם (ʿ-m); Form: Noun, masculine singular absolute with definite article; Translation: “The people”; Notes: Indicates the children of Yisra’el as the subject.
- עִם־מֹשֶׁ֔ה (ʿim-Moshe) – Root: עם (ʿ-m); Form: Preposition + Proper noun; Translation: “With Moshe”; Notes: Specifies the object of the quarrel.
- וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ (vayyoʾmeru) – Root: אמר (ʾ-m-r); Form: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3mp with vav consecutive; Translation: “And they said”; Notes: Indicates speech directed to Moshe.
- תְּנוּ־לָ֥נוּ (tenu-lanu) – Root: נתן (n-t-n); Form: Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2mp + Preposition + 1cp suffix; Translation: “Give us”; Notes: A demand for water.
- מַ֖יִם (mayim) – Root: N/A; Form: Noun, masculine plural absolute; Translation: “Water”; Notes: The object of their demand.
- וְנִשְׁתֶּ֑ה (venishteh) – Root: שתה (sh-t-h); Form: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 1cp with vav consecutive; Translation: “So that we may drink”; Notes: Expresses the desired result of the request.
- וַיֹּ֤אמֶר (vayyoʾmer) – Root: אמר (ʾ-m-r); Form: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3ms with vav consecutive; Translation: “And he said”; Notes: Moshe’s response to the people’s demand.
- לָהֶם֙ (lahem) – Root: N/A; Form: Preposition + 3mp suffix; Translation: “To them”; Notes: Specifies the audience of Moshe’s speech.
- מַה־תְּרִיבוּן֙ (mah-terivun) – Root: ריב (r-y-v); Form: Interrogative + Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2mp; Translation: “Why do you quarrel”; Notes: Moshe’s question challenging their argument.
- עִמָּדִ֔י (ʿimmadi) – Root: עם (ʿ-m); Form: Preposition + 1cs suffix; Translation: “With me”; Notes: Emphasizes the personal nature of the quarrel.
- מַה־תְּנַסּ֖וּן (mah-tenassun) – Root: נסה (n-s-h); Form: Interrogative + Verb, Piel, Imperfect, 2mp; Translation: “Why do you test”; Notes: A challenge to their actions against YHWH.
- אֶת־יְהוָֽה׃ (et-YHWH) – Root: N/A; Form: Direct object marker + Proper noun; Translation: “YHWH”; Notes: Identifies the one being tested.