כֶּֽעָפָ֖ר

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 כֶּֽעָפָ֖ר

   ke-a-FAR

   like dust
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 וַיְשִׂמֵ֥ם כֶּֽעָפָ֖ר

   va-ye-si-MEM ke-a-FAR

   made them like dust
3. clause🔊 כִּ֤י אִבְּדָם֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ אֲרָ֔ם וַיְשִׂמֵ֥ם כֶּֽעָפָ֖ר לָדֻֽשׁ׃

   KI ib-be-DAM ME-lekh a-RAM va-ye-si-MEM ke-a-FAR la-DUSH

   for king of Aram destroyed them made them like dust for threshing
4. sentence🔊 כִּ֣י לֹא֩ הִשְׁאִ֨יר לִיהוֹאָחָ֜ז עָ֗ם כִּ֣י אִם־חֲמִשִּׁ֤ים פָּֽרָשִׁים֙ וַעֲשָׂ֣רָה רֶ֔כֶב וַעֲשֶׂ֥רֶת אֲלָפִ֖ים רַגְלִ֑י כִּ֤י אִבְּדָם֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ אֲרָ֔ם וַיְשִׂמֵ֥ם כֶּֽעָפָ֖ר לָדֻֽשׁ׃

   KI LO hish-e-IR li-ye-ho-a-KHAZ AM KI im-kha-mi-SHIM pa-ra-SHIM va-a-sa-RA RE-khev va-a-SE-ret a-la-FIM rag-LI KI ib-be-DAM ME-lekh a-RAM va-ye-si-MEM ke-a-FAR la-DUSH

   for not left to Jehoahaz army except fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers for king of Aram destroyed them made them like dust for threshing

Exegesis

The vav-consecutive imperfect wayyĕsimêm {וַיְשִׂמֵם | wa-yĕ-si-mêm} ‘and he made them’ governs the simile kĕ-ʿāp̄ār lā-duš {כֶּעָפָר לָדֻשׁ | kĕ-ʿā-p̄ār lā-duš} ‘like dust to be trampled’, a vivid idiom signifying total ruin. The English structure maintains the causal progression and places the climactic simile at the end for emphasis.

Root and etymology

Root🔊 ע־פ־ר‘-p-r

“dust”

• 🔊 עָפָרʿā-p̄ārdustGenesis 2:7