וַיָּבֹ֞א יִתְרֹ֨ו חֹתֵ֥ן מֹשֶׁ֛ה וּבָנָ֥יו וְאִשְׁתֹּ֖ו אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה אֶל־הַמִּדְבָּ֗ר אֲשֶׁר־ה֛וּא חֹנֶ֥ה שָׁ֖ם הַ֥ר הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃
And Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moshe, to the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God.
Morphology
- וַיָּבֹ֞א (vayyavo) – Root: בוא (b-w-ʾ); Form: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3ms with vav consecutive; Translation: “And he came”; Notes: Describes Yitro’s arrival.
- יִתְרֹ֨ו (Yitro) – Root: N/A; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Yitro”; Notes: Refers to Moshe’s father-in-law.
- חֹתֵ֥ן (ḥoten) – Root: חתן (ḥ-t-n); Form: Noun, masculine singular absolute; Translation: “Father-in-law”; Notes: Specifies Yitro’s relationship to Moshe.
- מֹשֶׁ֛ה (Moshe) – Root: N/A; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Moshe”; Notes: The main figure in the narrative.
- וּבָנָ֥יו (uvenav) – Root: בן (b-n); Form: Conjunction + Noun, masculine plural construct + 3ms suffix; Translation: “And his sons”; Notes: Refers to Moshe’s children.
- וְאִשְׁתֹּ֖ו (ve-ishto) – Root: אשה (ʾ-sh-h); Form: Conjunction + Noun, feminine singular construct + 3ms suffix; Translation: “And his wife”; Notes: Refers to Tzipporah.
- אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה (el-Moshe) – Root: N/A; Form: Preposition + Proper noun; Translation: “To Moshe”; Notes: Indicates the destination of Yitro’s journey.
- אֶל־הַמִּדְבָּ֗ר (el-hamidbar) – Root: מדבר (m-d-b-r); Form: Preposition + Noun, masculine singular absolute with definite article; Translation: “To the wilderness”; Notes: Specifies the location.
- אֲשֶׁר־ה֛וּא (asher-hu) – Root: N/A; Form: Relative pronoun + Pronoun, 3ms; Translation: “Where he”; Notes: Introduces the clause describing Moshe’s location.
- חֹנֶ֥ה (ḥoneh) – Root: חנה (ḥ-n-h); Form: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular absolute; Translation: “Was encamped”; Notes: Indicates the action of staying in the wilderness.
- שָׁ֖ם (sham) – Root: N/A; Form: Adverb; Translation: “There”; Notes: Locates the encampment.
- הַ֥ר (har) – Root: הר (h-r); Form: Noun, masculine singular absolute with definite article; Translation: “The mountain”; Notes: Refers to Mount Sinai.
- הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃ (ha-Elohim) – Root: אלה (ʾ-l-h); Form: Noun, masculine plural absolute with definite article; Translation: “Of God”; Notes: Identifies the mountain as sacred.