וְעַמְּךָ֖

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 וְעַמְּךָ֖

   ve-am-ME-kha

   and your people
2. clause🔊 וְהָיְתָ֤ה נַפְשְׁךָ֙ תַּ֣חַת נַפְשׁ֔וֹ וְעַמְּךָ֖ תַּ֥חַת עַמּֽוֹ׃

   ve-ha-ye-TA NA-fe-she-kha TA-khat naf-SHO ve-am-ME-kha TA-khat a-MO

   and it will be your life instead of or under his life and your people instead of or under his people
3. sentence🔊 וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֗יו כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה יַ֛עַן שִׁלַּ֥חְתָּ אֶת־אִישׁ־חֶרְמִ֖י מִיָּ֑ד וְהָיְתָ֤ה נַפְשְׁךָ֙ תַּ֣חַת נַפְשׁ֔וֹ וְעַמְּךָ֖ תַּ֥חַת עַמּֽוֹ׃

   va-yo-MER e-LAV KO a-MAR ye-ho-VAH YA-an shil-LAKH-ta et-I-shi-kher-MI mi-YAD ve-ha-ye-TA NA-fe-she-kha TA-khat naf-SHO ve-am-ME-kha TA-khat a-MO

   and he said to him thus said LORD because you sent away or let go the man of my devoted-thing or my ban from {the} hand and it will be your life instead of or under his life and your people instead of or under his people

Exegesis

The vav-consecutive vehayetah {וְהָיְתָ֤ה | wə-hā-yə-tāh} ‘and it shall be’ frames the result clause with the substitution formula naphshekha takhat naphsho {נַפְשְׁךָ֙ תַּ֣חַת נַפְשׁ֔וֹ | nap-šek-kha ṭa-ḥat nap-šō} ‘your life instead of his life’, repeated for veammekha takhat ammo {וְעַמְּךָ֖ תַּ֥חַת עַמּֽוֹ | wə-ʿam-mə-kha ṭa-ḥat ʿam-mō} ‘and your people instead of his people’, establishing a parallelism that underscores proportional retribution in a legal context.