וַיְהִ֤י דְבַר־יְהוָה֙ אֵלַ֣י לֵאמֹ֔ר מָה־אַתָּ֥ה רֹאֶ֖ה יִרְמְיָ֑הוּ וָאֹמַ֕ר מַקֵּ֥ל שָׁקֵ֖ד אֲנִ֥י רֹאֶֽה׃
And the word of YHWH came to me, saying, “What do you see, Yirmeyahu?” And I said, “I see a rod of almond.”
Morphology
- וַיְהִ֤י (va-yehi) – Root: היה; Form: Qal wayyiqtol 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “And it came to pass”; Notes: Introduces a new divine communication event.
- דְבַר־יְהוָה (devar-YHWH) – Root: דבר; Form: Construct noun masculine singular + divine name; Translation: “the word of YHWH”; Notes: Refers to the prophetic message from YHWH.
- אֵלַ֣י (elai) – Root: אל; Form: Preposition with 1st person singular suffix; Translation: “to me”; Notes: Marks the prophet as recipient of the message.
- לֵאמֹ֔ר (leʾemor) – Root: אמר; Form: Infinitive construct with preposition; Translation: “saying”; Notes: Standard formula introducing direct speech.
- מָה־אַתָּ֥ה (mah-atta) – Root: מה, אתה; Form: Interrogative + personal pronoun masculine singular; Translation: “What are you”; Notes: Begins the divine question.
- רֹאֶ֖ה (roʾeh) – Root: ראה; Form: Qal participle masculine singular; Translation: “seeing”; Notes: Continuous aspect—“What are you seeing?”
- יִרְמְיָ֑הוּ (Yirmeyahu) – Root: Proper name; Form: Proper noun, masculine singular; Translation: “Yirmeyahu”; Notes: Addressee of YHWH’s question.
- וָאֹמַ֕ר (va-omar) – Root: אמר; Form: Qal wayyiqtol 1st person common singular; Translation: “And I said”; Notes: Response formula in prophetic dialogue.
- מַקֵּ֥ל (maqqel) – Root: מקל; Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “a rod”; Notes: Symbolic item in prophetic vision.
- שָׁקֵ֖ד (shaqed) – Root: שקד; Form: Adjective or noun masculine singular; Translation: “almond”; Notes: Wordplay on shaqed (almond) and shoqed (watching) appears in the following verse.
- אֲנִ֥י (ani) – Root: Personal pronoun; Form: 1st person common singular; Translation: “I”; Notes: Emphasizes the prophet’s role as observer.
- רֹאֶֽה (roʾeh) – Root: ראה; Form: Qal participle masculine singular; Translation: “am seeing”; Notes: Repetition confirms the clarity of the prophet’s vision.