אֶל־תָּ֥א

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 אֶל־תָּ֥א

   el-TA

   to the chamber or cell of
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 אֶל־תָּ֥א הָרָצִֽים׃

   el-TA ha-ra-TSIM

   to the chamber or cell of the runners or guards
3. clause🔊 בָּ֤אוּ הָרָצִים֙ וּנְשָׂא֔וּם וֶהֱשִׁב֖וּם אֶל־תָּ֥א הָרָצִֽים׃

   ba-U ha-ra-TSIM u-ne-sa-UM ve-he-shi-VUM el-TA ha-ra-TSIM

   they came the runners or guards and they carried them and they brought them back to the chamber or cell of the runners or guards
4. sentence🔊 וַיְהִ֛י מִדֵּי־ב֥וֹא הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ בֵּ֣ית יְהוָ֑ה בָּ֤אוּ הָרָצִים֙ וּנְשָׂא֔וּם וֶהֱשִׁב֖וּם אֶל־תָּ֥א הָרָצִֽים׃

   va-ye-HI mi-DE-VO ha-ME-lekh BET Ye-ho-VAH ba-U ha-ra-TSIM u-ne-sa-UM ve-he-shi-VUM el-TA ha-ra-TSIM

   and it happened as often as coming or entering the king house of the LORD they came the runners or guards and they carried them and they brought them back to the chamber or cell of the runners or guards

Exegesis

The verse opens with vayehi {וַיְהִי | wa-yə-ḥî} ‘and it happened’, a vav-consecutive Qal imperfect linking narrative; the temporal clause midei-vo {מִדֵּי־בּוֹא | min + dēyî bo} ‘whenever coming’ uses a prepositional plus construct infinitive to signal repeated actions; the subject ha-melekh {הַמֶּלֶךְ | ham-melekh} ‘the king’ is followed by the construct chain beit YHWH {בֵּית יְהוָה | bêyt Yə-hō-wāh} ‘house of the LORD’; the verb bau {בָּאוּ | bā’û} ‘they came’ introduces ha-ratzim {הָרָצִים | hā-rā-ṣîm} ‘the guards’; the coordinated verbs u-nesa’um {וּנְשָׂאוּם | wə-nĕ-sā-ʾûm} ‘and they carried them’ and ve-heshivum {וֶהֱשִׁיבוּם | wə-hē-šî-bûm} ‘and they returned them’ each take the same plural object suffix referring to shields understood from context; the final prepositional phrase el-ta {אֶל־תָּא | ’el-tā} ‘to the chamber’ specifies their destination. English translation retains the Hebrew SVO and habitual sense through “whenever”/“each time,” preserving the sequence of entry, carrying, and returning.