וַיֹּ֧אמֶר פַּרְעֹ֛ה אֶל־אֶחָ֖יו מַה־מַּעֲשֵׂיכֶ֑ם וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֗ה רֹעֵ֥ה צֹאן֙ עֲבָדֶ֔יךָ גַּם־אֲנַ֖חְנוּ גַּם־אֲבֹותֵֽינוּ׃
And Par’o said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Par’o, “Your servants are shepherds of sheep, both we and our fathers.”
Morphology
- וַיֹּ֧אמֶר (vayyo’mer) – Root: אמר (amar); Form: Verb, Qal, Consecutive Imperfect, 3ms; Translation: “And he said”; Notes: Refers to Pharaoh speaking.
- פַּרְעֹ֛ה (Phar’oh) – Form: Proper noun, masculine singular; Translation: “Pharaoh”; Notes: Refers to the king of Egypt.
- אֶל־אֶחָ֖יו (el-echav) – Form: Preposition with noun, masculine plural construct and 3ms suffix; Translation: “to his brothers”; Notes: Indicates the recipients of Pharaoh’s question.
- מַה־ (mah-) – Form: Interrogative pronoun; Translation: “What”; Notes: Introduces the question.
- מַּעֲשֵׂיכֶ֑ם (ma’aseikhem) – Root: מעשה (ma’aseh); Form: Noun, masculine plural construct with 2mp suffix; Translation: “your occupation”; Notes: Refers to the brothers’ work or livelihood.
- וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ (vayyo’meru) – Root: אמר (amar); Form: Verb, Qal, Consecutive Imperfect, 3mp; Translation: “And they said”; Notes: Refers to Yosef’s brothers responding to Pharaoh.
- אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֗ה (el-Phar’oh) – Form: Preposition with proper noun, masculine singular; Translation: “to Pharaoh”; Notes: Indicates the direction of their speech.
- רֹעֵ֥ה (ro’eh) – Root: רעה (ra’ah); Form: Participle, masculine singular construct; Translation: “shepherds of”; Notes: Describes their occupation.
- צֹאן֙ (tzon) – Form: Noun, masculine singular; Translation: “sheep”; Notes: Specifies the type of livestock they tend.
- עֲבָדֶ֔יךָ (avadeikha) – Root: עבד (avad); Form: Noun, masculine plural construct with 2ms suffix; Translation: “Your servants”; Notes: Indicates their humility before Pharaoh.
- גַּם־ (gam-) – Form: Conjunction; Translation: “both”; Notes: Adds emphasis to the statement.
- אֲנַ֖חְנוּ (anachnu) – Form: Pronoun, 1cp; Translation: “we”; Notes: Refers to Yosef’s brothers.
- גַּם־ (gam-) – Form: Conjunction; Translation: “and”; Notes: Continues the emphasis.
- אֲבֹותֵֽינוּ (avoteinu) – Root: אב (av); Form: Noun, masculine plural construct with 1cp suffix; Translation: “our fathers”; Notes: Includes their ancestors in the statement.