וְנָשְׂא֨וּ אֵלַ֤יִךְ בְּנִיהֶם֙ קִינָ֔ה וְקֹונְנ֖וּ עָלָ֑יִךְ מִ֣י כְצֹ֔ור כְּדֻמָ֖ה בְּתֹ֥וךְ הַיָּֽם׃
And they shall raise a lamentation for you, and they shall wail over you, saying, ‘Who is like Tsor, like her who is silenced in the midst of the sea?
Morphology
- וְנָשְׂאוּ (ve-nasʾu) – Root: נשא (nasaʾ); Form: Qal wayyiqtol (narrative past) 3rd person masculine plural; Translation: “and they raised” or “they lifted up”; Notes: Used idiomatically for “raising a lamentation” or “uttering a song.”
- אֵלַיִךְ (ʾelayikh) – Root: אל (ʾel); Form: Preposition אֶל + suffix 2nd person feminine singular; Translation: “for you” or “toward you”; Notes: Directs the lamentation toward Tyre, personified as the fallen queen of the sea.
- בְּנִיהֶם (be-nihem) – Root: בן (ben); Form: Preposition בְּ + noun masculine plural construct + suffix 3rd person masculine plural; Translation: “with their laments” or “in their songs”; Notes: Refers to mournful chants or poetic laments used in funerary contexts.
- קִינָה (qinah) – Root: קונ (qon) / קין (qin); Form: Noun feminine singular; Translation: “lamentation”; Notes: A formal dirge or mourning poem used in Hebrew funerary oracles, expressing deep sorrow.
- וְקֹונְנוּ (ve-qonenu) – Root: קונ (qon); Form: Qal wayyiqtol (narrative past) 3rd person masculine plural; Translation: “and they lamented” or “they wailed”; Notes: Refers to the traditional act of public wailing or chanting dirges for the dead.
- עָלָיִךְ (ʿalayikh) – Root: על (ʿal); Form: Preposition עַל + suffix 2nd person feminine singular; Translation: “over you”; Notes: Indicates the subject of the lamentation—Tyre’s downfall is being mourned.
- מִי (mi) – Root: —; Form: Interrogative pronoun; Translation: “who?”; Notes: Introduces a rhetorical question expressing astonishment or grief.
- כְצֹור (ke-Tsor) – Root: צור (Tsor); Form: Preposition כְּ + proper noun; Translation: “like Tyre”; Notes: The lament compares Tyre to no other—her greatness was unmatched among maritime cities.
- כְּדֻמָה (ke-dumah) – Root: דמם (damam); Form: Preposition כְּ + passive participle feminine singular; Translation: “like one who is silenced” or “like the silent one”; Notes: From the verb meaning “to be still” or “to perish”; implies utter destruction or cessation.
- בְּתֹוךְ (be-tokh) – Root: תוך (tokh); Form: Preposition בְּ + noun masculine singular construct; Translation: “in the midst of”; Notes: Indicates location—Tyre’s ruin occurs in the very center of the sea, her domain of power.
- הַיָּם (ha-yam) – Root: ים (yam); Form: Definite article הַ + noun masculine singular; Translation: “the sea”; Notes: Refers to the Mediterranean Sea, symbolic of commerce, pride, and divine judgment in prophetic literature.