וַיֹּ֤אמֶר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־יְהוָ֔ה לֹא־יוּכַ֣ל הָעָ֔ם לַעֲלֹ֖ת אֶל־הַ֣ר סִינָ֑י כִּֽי־אַתָּ֞ה הַעֵדֹ֤תָה בָּ֨נוּ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר הַגְבֵּ֥ל אֶת־הָהָ֖ר וְקִדַּשְׁתֹּֽו׃
And Moshe said to YHWH, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set boundaries around the mountain and sanctify it.’”
Morphology
- וַיֹּ֤אמֶר (vayyoʾmer) – Root: אמר (ʾ-m-r); Form: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3ms with vav consecutive; Translation: “And he said”; Notes: Introduces Moshe’s response.
- מֹשֶׁה֙ (Mosheh) – Root: N/A; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Moshe”; Notes: The speaker.
- אֶל־יְהוָ֔ה (el-YHWH) – Root: N/A; Form: Preposition + Proper noun; Translation: “To YHWH”; Notes: Indicates Moshe addressing God.
- לֹא־יוּכַ֣ל (lo-yukhal) – Root: יכל (y-k-l); Form: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3ms; Translation: “Cannot”; Notes: Denotes inability.
- הָעָ֔ם (haʿam) – Root: עם (ʿ-m); Form: Noun, masculine singular absolute with definite article; Translation: “The people”; Notes: Refers to the Israelites.
- לַעֲלֹ֖ת (laʿalot) – Root: עלה (ʿ-l-h); Form: Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct with preposition; Translation: “To come up”; Notes: Indicates ascent.
- אֶל־הַ֣ר סִינָ֑י (el-har Sinai) – Root: הר (h-r) + N/A; Form: Preposition + Noun, masculine singular absolute with definite article + Proper noun; Translation: “To Mount Sinai”; Notes: Specifies the location.
- כִּֽי־אַתָּ֞ה (ki-atah) – Root: N/A; Form: Conjunction + Pronoun, 2ms; Translation: “For You”; Notes: Indicates the reason.
- הַעֵדֹ֤תָה (haʿedotah) – Root: עוד (ʿ-w-d); Form: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, 2ms; Translation: “Warned”; Notes: Refers to God’s command.
- בָּ֨נוּ֙ (banu) – Root: N/A; Form: Preposition + Pronoun, 1cp; Translation: “Us”; Notes: Indicates the recipients of the warning.
- לֵאמֹ֔ר (leʾemor) – Root: אמר (ʾ-m-r); Form: Infinitive construct with preposition; Translation: “Saying”; Notes: Introduces the content of the warning.
- הַגְבֵּ֥ל (hagbel) – Root: גבל (g-b-l); Form: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, 2ms; Translation: “Set boundaries”; Notes: A command to delineate limits.
- אֶת־הָהָ֖ר (et-hahar) – Root: הר (h-r); Form: Direct object marker + Noun, masculine singular absolute with definite article; Translation: “The mountain”; Notes: Specifies the object of the boundary setting.
- וְקִדַּשְׁתֹּֽו (vekiddashto) – Root: קדשׁ (q-d-sh); Form: Verb, Piel, Perfect, 2ms + 3ms suffix; Translation: “And sanctify it”; Notes: Refers to making the mountain holy.