אֶל־יוֹאָב֙

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 אֶל־יוֹאָב֙

   el-yo-AV

   to Joab
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 וַיֹּ֨אמֶר דָּוִ֤יד אֶל־יוֹאָב֙

   va-YO-mer da-VID el-yo-AV

   and he said David to Joab
3. clause🔊 וַיֹּ֨אמֶר דָּוִ֤יד אֶל־יוֹאָב֙ וְאֶל־שָׂרֵ֣י הָעָ֔ם לְכ֗וּ סִפְרוּ֙ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מִבְּאֵ֥ר שֶׁ֖בַע וְעַד־דָּ֑ן

   va-YO-mer da-VID el-yo-AV ve-el-sa-RE ha-AM le-KHU sif-RU et-yis-ra-EL mib-be-ER SHE-va ve-ad-DAN

   and he said David to Joab and to the commanders of the people go count Israel from Beer Sheba and as far as Dan
4. sentence🔊 וַיֹּ֨אמֶר דָּוִ֤יד אֶל־יוֹאָב֙ וְאֶל־שָׂרֵ֣י הָעָ֔ם לְכ֗וּ סִפְרוּ֙ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מִבְּאֵ֥ר שֶׁ֖בַע וְעַד־דָּ֑ן וְהָבִ֣יאוּ אֵלַ֔י וְאֵדְעָ֖ה אֶת־מִסְפָּרָֽם׃

   va-YO-mer da-VID el-yo-AV ve-el-sa-RE ha-AM le-KHU sif-RU et-yis-ra-EL mib-be-ER SHE-va ve-ad-DAN ve-ha-VI-u E-lai ve-ed-a et-mis-pa-RAM

   and he said David to Joab and to the commanders of the people go count Israel from Beer Sheba and as far as Dan and bring to me so that I may know their number

Exegesis

The verse begins with the sequential marker vayōmer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wā-yō-mer} ‘and he said’, introducing direct speech from David {דָּוִד | Dāwîḏ} addressed to Joab {יוֹאָב | Yōʾāḇ} and the commanders (sārê hā-ʿām {שָׂרֵי הָעָם | śārê hā-ʿām} ‘leaders of the people’) using the prepositions ʾel {אֶל | ʾel} ‘to’ and wə-ʾel {וְאֶל | wə-ʾel} ‘and to’.

The compound command wə-hā-vî-ʾû ʾēlây wə-ʾēḏ-‘āh {וְהָבִיאוּ אֵלַי וְאֵדְעָה | wə-hā-vî-ʾû ʾēlây wə-ʾēḏ-‘āh} ‘and bring it to me that I may know’ combines the Hifil imperative and Qal imperfect in a purpose clause, highlighting David’s intent for precise knowledge of mis-pā-rām {מִסְפָּרָם | mis-pā-rām} ‘their number’. The structure maintains the Hebrew VSO order while accommodating English SVO, preserving the sequence of commands and result clause.