בְּטֶ֥רֶם תָּחִ֖יל יָלָ֑דָה בְּטֶ֨רֶם יָבֹ֥וא חֵ֛בֶל לָ֖הּ וְהִמְלִ֥יטָה זָכָֽר׃
“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before the pang came to her, she delivered a male child.
Morphology
- בְּטֶ֥רֶם (be-terem) – Root: טרם; Form: Preposition/adverb; Translation: “Before”; Notes: Introduces a time clause indicating a surprising sequence.
- תָּחִ֖יל (taḥil) – Root: חיל; Form: Qal imperfect 3rd person feminine singular; Translation: “she was in labor”; Notes: Refers to the beginning of labor pains.
- יָלָ֑דָה (yaladah) – Root: ילד; Form: Qal perfect 3rd person feminine singular; Translation: “she gave birth”; Notes: Indicates completed action prior to expected time.
- בְּטֶ֨רֶם (be-terem) – Root: טרם; Form: Repeated preposition/adverb; Translation: “Before”; Notes: Parallelism with the earlier clause, intensifying the temporal contrast.
- יָבֹ֥וא (yavo) – Root: בוא; Form: Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “the pang came”; Notes: Refers to the onset of labor pain or travail.
- חֵ֛בֶל (ḥevel) – Root: חבל; Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “pang”; Notes: Can mean birth pang or anguish.
- לָ֖הּ (lah) – Root: היא; Form: Preposition + 3rd person feminine singular suffix; Translation: “to her”; Notes: Indicates the recipient of the pain.
- וְהִמְלִ֥יטָה (ve-himlitah) – Root: מלט; Form: Hifil perfect 3rd person feminine singular; Translation: “she delivered”; Notes: Hifil here denotes causing to escape or deliver, applied to childbirth.
- זָכָֽר (zakhar) – Root: זכר; Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “a male”; Notes: Refers to a male child, highlighting the completeness of birth.