וַיִּשְׁאַ֤ל לָהֶם֙ לְשָׁלֹ֔ום וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הֲשָׁלֹ֛ום אֲבִיכֶ֥ם הַזָּקֵ֖ן אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֲמַרְתֶּ֑ם הַעֹודֶ֖נּוּ חָֽי׃
And he asked them about their welfare and said, “Is your elderly father, of whom you spoke, well? Is he still alive?”
Morphology
- וַיִּשְׁאַ֤ל (vayish’al) – Root: שָׁאַל (sha’al); Form: Verb, Qal, Consecutive Imperfect, 3ms; Translation: “And he asked”; Notes: Refers to Yosef inquiring about their welfare.
- לָהֶם֙ (lahem) – Root: לָהֶם (lahem); Form: Preposition with 3mp suffix; Translation: “to them”; Notes: Indicates Yosef’s question directed to his brothers.
- לְשָׁלֹ֔ום (leshalom) – Root: שָׁלוֹם (shalom); Form: Noun, ms with preposition; Translation: “about welfare”; Notes: Refers to Yosef asking if they are well.
- וַיֹּ֗אמֶר (vayomer) – Root: אָמַר (amar); Form: Verb, Qal, Consecutive Imperfect, 3ms; Translation: “and he said”; Notes: Introduces Yosef’s further question.
- הֲשָׁלֹ֛ום (hashelom) – Root: שָׁלוֹם (shalom); Form: Interrogative + noun, ms; Translation: “Is well”; Notes: A question about the well-being of their father.
- אֲבִיכֶ֥ם (avikhem) – Root: אָב (av); Form: Noun, ms with 2mp suffix; Translation: “your father”; Notes: Refers to the brothers’ father.
- הַזָּקֵ֖ן (hazaken) – Root: זָקֵן (zaken); Form: Adjective, ms with definite article; Translation: “the elderly”; Notes: Describes the father’s age.
- אֲשֶׁ֣ר (asher) – Form: Relative pronoun; Translation: “whom”; Notes: Connects the clause to previous information about their father.
- אֲמַרְתֶּ֑ם (amartem) – Root: אָמַר (amar); Form: Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2mp; Translation: “you spoke”; Notes: Refers to the brothers’ previous mention of their father.
- הַעֹודֶ֖נּוּ (ha’odenu) – Root: עוֹד (od); Form: Interrogative + particle + pronoun, 3ms; Translation: “is he still”; Notes: Questioning if their father is still alive.
- חָֽי (chai) – Root: חָיָה (chayah); Form: Verb, Qal, Participle, ms; Translation: “alive”; Notes: Final component of the question about their father’s condition.