2 Kings 17:41:72 Kgs.17.41.W7TAB
הָי֣וּ
hayu
“they were”
- Transliteration
- ha-YU
- Extended
- haa-YOO
- IPA
- /haːˈjuː/
Meaning by language
- English
- they were
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| He | h as in house; silent at word end | |
| Qamets | long 'ah' | |
| Yod | y as in yes; marks long ī | |
| Vav | v as in vine; marks long ō / ū |
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The word
Word in context
- word
ha-YU
- phraseyour reading level
ha-YU o-ve-DIM
- clause
va-yi-HYU ha-go-YIM ha-E-le ye-re-IM et-Ye-ho-VAH ve-et-pe-si-LE-hem ha-YU o-ve-DIM
- sentence
va-yi-HYU ha-go-YIM ha-E-le ye-re-IM et-Ye-ho-VAH ve-et-pe-si-LE-hem ha-YU o-ve-DIM gam-be-NE-hem u-ve-NE ve-NE ve-ne-HEM ka-a-SHER a-SU a-vo-TAM HEM o-SIM AD ha-YOM ha-ZE
Exegesis
Two participial expressions are set in tension: yərēʾîm {יְרֵאִים֙ | yərēʾîm} ‘fearing’ takes ʾet-YHWH {אֶת־יְהוָ֔ה | ʾet-YHWH} ‘the LORD’ as its object, while hāyû ʿōvədîm {הָי֣וּ עֹֽבְדִ֑ים | hāyû ʿōvədîm} ‘they were serving’ governs wəʾet-pəsîlêhem {וְאֶת־פְּסִֽילֵיהֶ֖ם | wəʾet-pəsîlêhem} ‘and their idols.’ The coordination, without an explicit adversative particle, heightens the irony of simultaneous reverence and idolatrous practice (religious syncretism).
Root and etymology
ʾ-l-haleph–lamed–he
“god; deity”
In context — 2 Kings 17:41
And these nations feared the LORD , and they were serving their idols ; also their children and their grandchildren, just as their fathers did, they are doing to this day.
About this coordinate
2 Kings 17:41:7 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 7 of 2 Kings 17:41, so the Hebrew word הָי֣וּ (hayu) can be cited, linked and studied at exactly this position rather than somewhere in the verse. In the Biblical Knowledge Coordinate System the same position is written 2 Kgs.17.41.W7, which extends further down to each syllable (2 Kgs.17.41.W7.S1) and character.