וַיְנַתַּח֙

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 וַיְנַתַּח֙

   va-ye-nat-TAkh

   and he cut up
2. clause🔊 וַיְנַתַּח֙ אֶת־הַפָּ֔ר וַיָּ֖שֶׂם עַל־הָעֵצִֽים׃

   va-ye-nat-TAkh et-ha-PAR va-ya-SEM al-ha-E-tsim

   and he cut up the bull and he put on the wood
3. sentence🔊 וַֽיַּעֲרֹ֖ךְ אֶת־הָֽעֵצִ֑ים וַיְנַתַּח֙ אֶת־הַפָּ֔ר וַיָּ֖שֶׂם עַל־הָעֵצִֽים׃

   va-ya-A-rokh et-ha-E-tsim va-ye-nat-TAkh et-ha-PAR va-ya-SEM al-ha-E-tsim

   and he arranged the and he cut up the bull and he put on the wood

Exegesis

The verse is a tight sequence of narrative actions marked by three wayyiqtol verbs, creating rapid step-by-step progression: wayya'arokh {וַֽיַּעֲרֹ֖ךְ | wayyaʿărōḵ} ‘and he arranged’, wayyenattah {וַיְנַתַּח֙ | wayyənattaḥ} ‘and he cut into pieces’, and wayyasem {וַיָּ֖שֶׂם | wayyāśem} ‘and he placed’.

The Piel stem in wayyenattah {וַיְנַתַּח֙ | wayyənattaḥ} foregrounds thorough division appropriate to sacrificial handling, and the final prepositional phrase ʿal-hāʿēṣîm {עַל־הָעֵצִים | ʿal-hāʿēṣîm} ‘on the wood’ completes the spatial goal of the action, presenting the offering as fully arranged for what follows.

Root and etymology

consonants נ־ת־ח🔊 נ־ת־חNun–Tav–Chet

“to cut up, divide”

• 🔊 וְנִתַּחvenittachand he shall cut upLeviticus 1:6