כִּ֡י לֹא֩ אֶל־עַ֨ם עִמְקֵ֥י שָׂפָ֛ה וְכִבְדֵ֥י לָשֹׁ֖ון אַתָּ֣ה שָׁל֑וּחַ אֶל־בֵּ֖ית יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
For not to a people deep of speech and heavy of tongue are you sent, but to the house of Yisraʾel.
Morphology
- כִּי (ki) – Root: —; Form: Conjunction; Translation: “for”; Notes: Introduces an explanatory statement.
- לֹא (lo) – Root: —; Form: Negative particle; Translation: “not”; Notes: Negates the following phrase.
- אֶל־ (ʾel) – Root: אל; Form: Preposition; Translation: “to”; Notes: Marks the direction or recipient.
- עַם (ʿam) – Root: עם; Form: Noun masculine singular absolute; Translation: “people”; Notes: General designation of a nation or group.
- עִמְקֵי (ʿimqei) – Root: עמק; Form: Noun masculine plural construct; Translation: “deep of”; Notes: Suggests difficulty or obscurity.
- שָׂפָה (safah) – Root: שׂפה; Form: Noun feminine singular absolute; Translation: “speech/language”; Notes: Refers to communication or tongue.
- וְכִבְדֵי (ve-khivdei) – Root: כבד; Form: Adjective masculine plural construct; Translation: “and heavy of”; Notes: Connotes difficulty, burden, or slowness.
- לָשֹׁון (lashon) – Root: לשׁון; Form: Noun feminine singular absolute; Translation: “tongue/language”; Notes: Figurative for speech or language barrier.
- אַתָּה (atta) – Root: —; Form: Independent pronoun masculine singular; Translation: “you”; Notes: Refers to Ezekiel directly.
- שָׁלוּחַ (shaluʿaḥ) – Root: שלח; Form: Qal passive participle masculine singular; Translation: “are sent”; Notes: Indicates Ezekiel’s commission as divinely appointed messenger.
- אֶל־ (ʾel) – Root: אל; Form: Preposition; Translation: “to”; Notes: Marks the destination of Ezekiel’s mission.
- בֵּית (beit) – Root: בית; Form: Noun masculine singular construct; Translation: “house of”; Notes: Represents the people collectively.
- יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisraʾel) – Root: ישראל; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Yisraʾel”; Notes: The covenant people who are Ezekiel’s audience.