מִפְּנֵ֣י

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 מִפְּנֵ֣י

   mip-pe-NEI

   from before
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 מִפְּנֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֑ה

   mip-pe-NEI ye-hu-DA

   from before Judah
3. clause🔊 וַיָּנ֥וּסוּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מִפְּנֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֑ה

   va-ya-NU-su be-NEI-yis-ra-EL mip-pe-NEI ye-hu-DA

   and they fled the sons of Israel from before Judah
4. sentence🔊 וַיָּנ֥וּסוּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מִפְּנֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֑ה וַיִּתְּנֵ֥ם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בְּיָדָֽם׃

   va-ya-NU-su be-NEI-yis-ra-EL mip-pe-NEI ye-hu-DA va-yit-NEIM e-lo-HIM be-ya-DAM

   and they fled the sons of Israel from before Judah and he gave them God into their hand

Exegesis

The prepositional phrase mipnei {מִפְּנֵ֣י | mippenê} ‘from before’ frames Judah as the immediate threat Israel withdraws from, while beyadam {בְּיָדָֽם | bə-yāḏām} ‘into their hand’ functions as a military-legal idiom for being placed under an opponent’s control. In English, the formal rendering keeps “before” and the “hand” idiom to retain the Hebraic imagery, while the dynamic rendering clarifies the implied referent (Judah’s forces) without changing the core transfer-of-control sense.