וַיָּבֵ֣א אֹתִ֗י אֶל־פֶּ֨תַח֙ שַׁ֣עַר בֵּית־יְהוָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֖ר אֶל־הַצָּפֹ֑ונָה וְהִנֵּה־שָׁם֙ הַנָּשִׁ֣ים יֹֽשְׁבֹ֔ות מְבַכֹּ֖ות אֶת־הַתַּמּֽוּז׃ ס
And he brought me to the entrance of the gate of the house of YHWH which was toward the north, and behold, there the women were sitting, weeping for Tammuz.
Morphology
- וַיָּבֵא (va-yave) – Root: בוא; Form: Hiphil wayyiqtol 3ms; Translation: “And he brought”; Notes: Causative form; the agent (spirit/guide) brings the prophet.
- אֹתִי (oti) – Root: את; Form: Object marker + 1cs suffix; Translation: “me”; Notes: Marks Ezekiel as the object of the action.
- אֶל־פֶּתַח (el-petach) – Root: פתח; Form: Preposition אֶל + noun masculine singular; Translation: “to the entrance”; Notes: Destination phrase.
- שַׁעַר (shaʿar) – Root: שער; Form: Noun masculine singular construct; Translation: “gate of”; Notes: Refers to temple gate.
- בֵּית־יְהוָה (beit-YHWH) – Root: בית; Form: Noun construct + divine name; Translation: “house of YHWH”; Notes: Refers to the Jerusalem temple.
- אֲשֶׁר (asher) – Form: Relative pronoun; Translation: “which”; Notes: Introduces descriptive clause about the gate’s location.
- אֶל־הַצָּפֹונָה (el-ha-tsafonah) – Root: צפון; Form: Preposition אֶל + definite noun with directional he; Translation: “toward the north”; Notes: Specifies orientation of the gate.
- וְהִנֵּה (ve-hinneh) – Form: Deictic particle; Translation: “and behold”; Notes: Marks dramatic unveiling of what Ezekiel sees.
- שָׁם (sham) – Root: שם; Form: Adverb; Translation: “there”; Notes: Locative particle pointing to the scene.
- הַנָּשִׁים (ha-nashim) – Root: אשה; Form: Definite noun feminine plural; Translation: “the women”; Notes: Denotes a group of women as actors in the ritual.
- יֹשְׁבֹות (yoshevot) – Root: ישׁב; Form: Qal participle feminine plural; Translation: “sitting”; Notes: Describes their posture at the gate.
- מְבַכֹּות (mevakkot) – Root: בכה; Form: Piel participle feminine plural; Translation: “weeping”; Notes: Intensive stem emphasizes loud or ritual lamenting.
- אֶת־ (et) – Form: Object marker; Translation: “—”; Notes: Marks “Tammuz” as the direct object.
- הַתַּמּוּז (ha-Tammuz) – Root: Akkadian loanword; Form: Proper noun with article; Translation: “Tammuz”; Notes: Babylonian deity associated with dying-and-rising fertility cults, lamented in ritual mourning.