חַי־אָ֗נִי נְאֻם֮ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִה֒ אִם־לֹ֗א בִּמְקֹום֙ הַמֶּ֨לֶךְ֙ הַמַּמְלִ֣יךְ אֹתֹ֔ו אֲשֶׁ֤ר בָּזָה֙ אֶת־אָ֣לָתֹ֔ו וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר הֵפֵ֖ר אֶת־בְּרִיתֹ֑ו אִתֹּ֥ו בְתֹוךְ־בָּבֶ֖ל יָמֽוּת׃
As I live,’ declares the Lord YHWH, ‘surely in the place of the king who made him reign, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, with him in the midst of Bavel he shall die.
Morphology
- חַי (ḥai) – Root: חיה; Form: Adjective masculine singular absolute; Translation: “living”; Notes: Used in an oath formula, “As I live.”
- אָ֗נִי (ʾani) – Root: —; Form: Independent pronoun 1st person common singular; Translation: “I”; Notes: Speaker is YHWH Himself.
- נְאֻם (neʾum) – Root: נאם; Form: Noun masculine singular absolute; Translation: “utterance, declaration”; Notes: Technical prophetic formula.
- אֲדֹנָי (ʾAdonai) – Root: אדן; Form: Noun of majesty, plural of respect; Translation: “Lord”; Notes: Title used with YHWH.
- יְהוִה (YHWH) – Root: יהוה; Form: Proper divine name; Translation: “YHWH”; Notes: Covenant name of Israel’s God.
- אִם־לֹא (ʾim-lo) – Root: —; Form: Conditional particle with negation; Translation: “surely”; Notes: Oath construction emphasizing certainty.
- בִּמְקֹום (bi-mekom) – Root: קום; Form: Preposition בְּ + noun masculine singular absolute; Translation: “in the place”; Notes: Indicates location of death.
- הַמֶּלֶךְ (ha-melekh) – Root: מלך; Form: Definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “the king”; Notes: Refers to the Babylonian king who installed him.
- הַמַּמְלִיךְ (ha-mamlikh) – Root: מלך; Form: Hiphil participle masculine singular with article; Translation: “who made reign”; Notes: Describes the king’s act of appointing the vassal.
- אֹתֹו (oto) – Root: את; Form: Direct object pronoun 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “him”; Notes: Refers to the vassal king of Judah.
- אֲשֶׁר (ʾasher) – Root: —; Form: Relative pronoun; Translation: “who/that”; Notes: Introduces subordinate clauses.
- בָּזָה (bazah) – Root: בזה; Form: Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “he despised”; Notes: Violated the sanctity of the oath.
- אֶת־ (ʾet) – Root: —; Form: Direct object marker; Translation: “(marks the object)”; Notes: Emphasizes the direct object “his oath.”
- אָ֣לָתֹו (ʾalato) – Root: אלה; Form: Noun feminine singular absolute with 3rd person masculine singular suffix; Translation: “his oath”; Notes: Refers to the oath of allegiance sworn to Babylon.
- וַאֲשֶׁר (va-ʾasher) – Root: —; Form: Conjunction + relative pronoun; Translation: “and who”; Notes: Adds second relative clause.
- הֵפֵר (hefer) – Root: פרר; Form: Hiphil perfect 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “he broke”; Notes: Covenant violation, deliberate act.
- אֶת־ (ʾet) – Root: —; Form: Direct object marker; Translation: “(marks the object)”; Notes: Highlights covenant as object of violation.
- בְּרִיתֹו (berito) – Root: ברית; Form: Noun feminine singular construct + 3rd person masculine singular suffix; Translation: “his covenant”; Notes: Binding covenant made with the king of Babylon.
- אִתֹּו (itto) – Root: את; Form: Preposition with 3rd person masculine singular suffix; Translation: “with him”; Notes: Indicates Babylonian king as covenant partner.
- בְתֹוךְ (be-tokh) – Root: תוך; Form: Preposition; Translation: “in the midst of”; Notes: Specifies location of death.
- בָּבֶל (Bavel) – Root: בלל; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Bavel”; Notes: Scholarly transliteration for Babylon.
- יָמוּת (yamot) – Root: מות; Form: Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “he shall die”; Notes: Prophetic prediction of certain death in Babylon.