כִּ֚י כְּפָרָ֣ה סֹֽרֵרָ֔ה סָרַ֖ר יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל עַתָּה֙ יִרְעֵ֣ם יְהוָ֔ה כְּכֶ֖בֶשׂ בַּמֶּרְחָֽב׃
For like a stubborn heifer, Yisraʾel is stubborn; now YHWH will pasture them like a lamb in a broad field.
Morphology
- כִּי (ki) – Root: —; Form: Conjunction; Translation: “for” or “because”; Notes: Introduces the cause or reason for YHWH’s coming judgment.
- כְּפָרָה (keparah) – Root: פרה (p-r-h); Form: Preposition כְּ + noun feminine singular; Translation: “like a heifer”; Notes: The imagery of a young cow symbolizes rebellious resistance to the yoke of obedience.
- סֹרֵרָה (sorerah) – Root: סור (s-w-r); Form: Qal participle feminine singular; Translation: “stubborn” or “rebellious”; Notes: Feminine agreement with “heifer”; indicates moral obstinacy in rejecting YHWH’s rule.
- סָרַר (sarar) – Root: סרר (s-r-r); Form: Qal perfect 3ms; Translation: “has rebelled”; Notes: Expresses completed defiance; Yisraʾel’s rebellion is not hypothetical but realized and habitual.
- יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisraʾel) – Root: שרי (ś-r-y); Form: Proper noun masculine singular; Translation: “Yisraʾel”; Notes: The northern kingdom; presented metaphorically as the defiant heifer.
- עַתָּה (ʿattah) – Root: —; Form: Adverb; Translation: “now”; Notes: Marks the transition from accusation to consequence—judgment is imminent.
- יִרְעֵם (yirʿem) – Root: רעה (r-ʿ-h); Form: Qal imperfect 3ms + suffix 3mp; Translation: “He will pasture them”; Notes: Irony—YHWH will ‘shepherd’ them not in protection but in abandonment to desolation.
- יְהוָה (YHWH) – Root: היה (h-y-h); Form: Proper name; Translation: “YHWH”; Notes: The divine subject who reverses His shepherding care into disciplinary exposure.
- כְּכֶבֶשׂ (kekheves) – Root: כבשׂ (k-b-ś); Form: Preposition כְּ + noun masculine singular; Translation: “like a lamb”; Notes: Contrast between the stubborn heifer (rebellious) and lamb (helpless)—a shift from defiance to vulnerability.
- בַּמֶּרְחָב (bammerḥav) – Root: רחב (r-ḥ-b); Form: Preposition בְּ + noun masculine singular with definite article; Translation: “in a broad field”; Notes: Symbolizes exposure or isolation rather than freedom—abandoned to the open wilderness without divine protection.