וַיִּפְתַּ֥ח יְהוָ֖ה אֶת־פִּ֣י הָאָתֹ֑ון וַתֹּ֤אמֶר לְבִלְעָם֙ מֶה־עָשִׂ֣יתִֽי לְךָ֔ כִּ֣י הִכִּיתַ֔נִי זֶ֖ה שָׁלֹ֥שׁ רְגָלִֽים׃
And YHWH opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Bilʿam, “What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?”
Morphology
- וַיִּפְתַּ֥ח (vayyiftach) – Root: פתח (patach); Form: Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular with vav-consecutive; Translation: “And He opened”; Notes: Refers to YHWH enabling the donkey to speak.
- יְהוָ֖ה (YHWH) – Root: יהוה (YHWH); Form: Proper noun; Translation: “YHWH”; Notes: The divine name.
- אֶת־פִּ֣י (et-pi) – Root: פה (peh); Form: Noun, masculine singular with object marker and construct state; Translation: “the mouth of”; Notes: Refers to the donkey’s mouth.
- הָאָתֹ֑ון (haʾaton) – Root: אתן (aton); Form: Noun, feminine singular with definite article; Translation: “the donkey”; Notes: The subject whose mouth was opened.
- וַתֹּ֤אמֶר (vatomer) – Root: אמר (amar); Form: Qal imperfect 3rd person feminine singular with vav-consecutive; Translation: “and she said”; Notes: Refers to the donkey speaking.
- לְבִלְעָם֙ (leBilʿam) – Root: בלע (balaʿ); Form: Proper noun with preposition; Translation: “to Bilʿam”; Notes: The recipient of the donkey’s words.
- מֶה־עָשִׂ֣יתִֽי (meh-ʿasiti) – Root: עשה (ʿasah); Form: Qal perfect 1st person singular; Translation: “What have I done”; Notes: The donkey questions Bilʿam.
- לְךָ֔ (lekha) – Root: לך (lekha); Form: Preposition with 2nd person masculine singular suffix; Translation: “to you”; Notes: Directs the question to Bilʿam.
- כִּ֣י (ki) – Root: כי (ki); Form: Conjunction; Translation: “that”; Notes: Introduces the reason for the question.
- הִכִּיתַ֔נִי (hikkitani) – Root: נכה (nakah); Form: Hifil perfect 2nd person masculine singular with 1st person singular suffix; Translation: “you have struck me”; Notes: Describes Bilʿam’s action.
- זֶ֖ה (zeh) – Root: זה (zeh); Form: Demonstrative pronoun, masculine singular; Translation: “these”; Notes: Refers to the specific times.
- שָׁלֹ֥שׁ (shalosh) – Root: שלש (shalosh); Form: Cardinal number, feminine singular; Translation: “three”; Notes: Indicates the number of occurrences.
- רְגָלִֽים׃ (regalim) – Root: רגל (regel); Form: Noun, feminine plural; Translation: “times”; Notes: Refers to the repeated action.