וַיִּרְא֤וּ אֲחֵֽי־יֹוסֵף֙ כִּי־מֵ֣ת אֲבִיהֶ֔ם וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ ל֥וּ יִשְׂטְמֵ֖נוּ יֹוסֵ֑ף וְהָשֵׁ֤ב יָשִׁיב֙ לָ֔נוּ אֵ֚ת כָּל־הָ֣רָעָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר גָּמַ֖לְנוּ אֹתֹֽו׃
And Yosef’s brothers saw that their father had died, and they said, “Perhaps Yosef will hate us and fully repay us for all the evil that we did to him.”
Morphology
- וַיִּרְא֤וּ (vayirʾu) – Root: ראה (raʾah); Form: Verb, Qal, Wayyiqtol, 3mp; Translation: “And they saw”; Notes: Refers to Yosef’s brothers perceiving their father’s death.
- אֲחֵֽי־יֹוסֵף֙ (ʾaḥei-Yosef) – Root: אח (aḥ); Form: Noun, masculine plural construct; Translation: “the brothers of Yosef”; Notes: Identifies the subject of the action.
- כִּי־מֵ֣ת (ki-met) – Root: מות (mut); Form: Verb, Qal, perfect, 3ms; Translation: “that he had died”; Notes: Refers to the death of their father.
- אֲבִיהֶ֔ם (avihem) – Root: אב (av); Form: Noun, masculine singular construct with 3mp suffix; Translation: “their father”; Notes: Refers to Yaʿaqov.
- וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ (vayomeru) – Root: אמר (ʾamar); Form: Verb, Qal, Wayyiqtol, 3mp; Translation: “and they said”; Notes: Marks the dialogue among the brothers.
- ל֥וּ (lu) – Root: לו (lu); Form: Particle; Translation: “perhaps”; Notes: Indicates a possibility or concern.
- יִשְׂטְמֵ֖נוּ (yistemenu) – Root: שטם (shatem); Form: Verb, Qal, imperfect, 3ms with 1cp suffix; Translation: “he will hate us”; Notes: Expresses their fear of Yosef’s animosity.
- יֹוסֵ֑ף (Yosef) – Root: יסף (yasaf); Form: Proper noun; Translation: “Yosef”; Notes: The subject of their concern.
- וְהָשֵׁ֤ב (ve-hashev) – Root: שׁוב (shuv); Form: Verb, Hifil, infinitive absolute; Translation: “and fully repay”; Notes: Indicates emphasis on the repayment.
- יָשִׁיב֙ (yashiv) – Root: שׁוב (shuv); Form: Verb, Hifil, imperfect, 3ms; Translation: “he will repay”; Notes: Describes the anticipated action of Yosef.
- לָ֔נוּ (lanu) – Root: ל (le) + אנחנו (ʾanahnu); Form: Preposition with 1cp suffix; Translation: “to us”; Notes: Specifies the recipients of the repayment.
- אֵ֚ת (ʾet) – Root: None (direct object marker); Translation: “the”; Notes: Introduces the object of the verb.
- כָּל־הָ֣רָעָ֔ה (kol-haraʿah) – Root: רעע (raʿaʿ); Form: Noun, feminine singular construct with definite article; Translation: “all the evil”; Notes: Refers to their past actions.
- אֲשֶׁ֥ר (ʾasher) – Root: None (relative pronoun); Translation: “that”; Notes: Connects the clause to the preceding noun.
- גָּמַ֖לְנוּ (gamalnu) – Root: גמל (gamal); Form: Verb, Qal, perfect, 1cp; Translation: “we did”; Notes: Reflects their acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
- אֹתֹֽו׃ (oto) – Root: את (ʾet) + הוא (hu); Form: Preposition with 3ms suffix; Translation: “to him”; Notes: Refers to Yosef as the object of their actions.