וְלֹא֩ בְחַ֨יִל גָּדֹ֜ול וּבְקָהָ֣ל רָ֗ב יַעֲשֶׂ֨ה אֹותֹ֤ו פַרְעֹה֙ בַּמִּלְחָמָ֔ה בִּשְׁפֹּ֥ךְ סֹלְלָ֖ה וּבִבְנֹ֣ות דָּיֵ֑ק לְהַכְרִ֖ית נְפָשֹׁ֥ות רַבֹּֽות׃
And not with great force and with a great assembly shall Parʿo act for him in the war, by casting up a siege mound and by building a siege wall, to cut off many lives.
Morphology
- וְלֹא (ve-lo) – Root: לא; Form: Conjunction + negative particle; Translation: “and not”; Notes: Introduces negation, denying expected outcome.
- בְחַיִל (ve-ḥayil) – Root: חיל; Form: Preposition בְּ + noun masculine singular absolute; Translation: “with force/army”; Notes: Refers to military strength.
- גָּדֹול (gadol) – Root: גדל; Form: Adjective masculine singular absolute; Translation: “great”; Notes: Qualifies the extent of the military force.
- וּבְקָהָל (u-ve-qahal) – Root: קהל; Form: Conjunction + preposition בְּ + noun masculine singular absolute; Translation: “and with an assembly”; Notes: Refers to a large multitude of troops or allies.
- רָב (rav) – Root: רבב; Form: Adjective masculine singular absolute; Translation: “great”; Notes: Reinforces magnitude of the assembly.
- יַעֲשֶׂה (yaʿaseh) – Root: עשה; Form: Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “shall act / shall do”; Notes: Refers to Parʿo’s capacity to intervene.
- אֹותֹו (oto) – Root: את; Form: Direct object pronoun 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “for him”; Notes: Refers to the rebellious king of Judah.
- פַרְעֹה (Parʿo) – Root: —; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Parʿo”; Notes: Scholarly transliteration for Pharaoh, king of Mitsrayim.
- בַּמִּלְחָמָה (ba-milḥamah) – Root: לחם; Form: Preposition בְּ + definite noun feminine singular; Translation: “in the war”; Notes: Refers to conflict with Babylon.
- בִּשְׁפֹּךְ (bishpokh) – Root: שׁפך; Form: Preposition בְּ + Qal infinitive construct; Translation: “by casting up”; Notes: Technical military term for pouring up an embankment.
- סֹלְלָה (solelah) – Root: סלל; Form: Noun feminine singular absolute; Translation: “siege mound”; Notes: Raised earthworks for attacking city walls.
- וּבִבְנֹות (u-vi-vnot) – Root: בנה; Form: Conjunction + preposition בְּ + Qal infinitive construct plural form; Translation: “and by building”; Notes: Refers to constructing siege works.
- דָּיֵק (dayeq) – Root: דוק; Form: Noun masculine singular absolute; Translation: “siege wall / rampart”; Notes: Technical term for military fortification.
- לְהַכְרִית (le-hakrit) – Root: כרת; Form: Hiphil infinitive construct with prefixed לְ; Translation: “to cut off / to destroy”; Notes: Expresses purpose of the siege operations.
- נְפָשֹׁות (nefashot) – Root: נפשׁ; Form: Noun feminine plural absolute; Translation: “lives”; Notes: Refers to human lives within the besieged city.
- רַבֹּות (rabbot) – Root: רבב; Form: Adjective feminine plural absolute; Translation: “many”; Notes: Stresses the large number of lives at stake.