וָבָ֔א

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 וָבָ֔א

   va-VA

   and coming in
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 יֹצֵ֣א וָבָ֔א

   yo-TSE va-VA

   going out and coming in
3. clause🔊 לְבִלְתִּ֗י תֵּ֚ת יֹצֵ֣א וָבָ֔א לְאָסָ֖א מֶ֥לֶךְ יְהוּדָֽה׃

   le-vil-TI TET yo-TSE va-VA le-a-SA ME-lekh ye-hu-DA

   so as not to allow going out and coming in to Asa king of Judah
4. sentence🔊 וַיַּ֨עַל בַּעְשָׁ֤א מֶֽלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ עַל־יְהוּדָ֔ה וַיִּ֖בֶן אֶת־הָרָמָ֑ה לְבִלְתִּ֗י תֵּ֚ת יֹצֵ֣א וָבָ֔א לְאָסָ֖א מֶ֥לֶךְ יְהוּדָֽה׃

   va-YA-al ba-SHA ME-lekh-yis-ra-EL al-ye-hu-DA va-yi-VEN et-ha-ra-MA le-vil-TI TET yo-TSE va-VA le-a-SA ME-lekh ye-hu-DA

   and he went up Baasha king of Israel against Judah and he built {direct object} the Ramah so as not to allow going out and coming in to Asa king of Judah

Exegesis

The paired participles yotse va {יֹצֵא וָבָ֔א | yotseʾ vābāʾ} ‘going out and coming in’ function idiomatically for unrestricted travel and trade; negating this pair communicates an ongoing blockade. English renders the compact Hebrew purpose clause as a clear intent statement (“to prevent”) while keeping the bidirectional idiom (“go out or come in”) to preserve the sense of total restriction.