2 Samuel 15:19:52 Sam.15.19.W5TAB
לָ֧מָּה
lama
“why”
- Transliteration
- la-MA
- Extended
- laa-MAA
- IPA
- /laːmˈmaː/
Meaning by language
- English
- why
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Lamed | l as in law | |
| Qamets | long 'ah' | |
| Mem | m as in mother | |
| Qamets | long 'ah' | |
| He | h as in house; silent at word end |
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The word
Word in context
- word
la-MA
- phraseyour reading level
la-MA te-LEKH
- clause
va-YO-mer ha-ME-lekh el-i-TAI ha-gi-TI la-MA te-LEKH gam-a-TA i-TA-nu
- sentence
va-YO-mer ha-ME-lekh el-i-TAI ha-gi-TI la-MA te-LEKH gam-a-TA i-TA-nu SHUV ve-SHEV im-ha-ME-lekh ki-na-KHRI a-TA ve-gam-go-LE a-TA lim-ko-ME-kha
Exegesis
The interrogative lamah {לָ֧מָּה | lāmmāh} ‘why’ introduces a rhetorical question, followed by the imperfect verb telekh {תֵלֵ֛ךְ | tēlēḵ} ‘you go’, with gam {גַּם־ | gam} ‘also’ and atah {אַתָּה | ʾattāh} ‘you’ emphasizing voluntary participation.
In context — 2 Samuel 15:19
And the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you also go with us? Return and remain with the king, for you are a foreigner and an exile to your own place.”
About this coordinate
2 Samuel 15:19:5 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 5 of 2 Samuel 15:19, so the Hebrew word לָ֧מָּה (lama) 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 Sam.15.19.W5, which extends further down to each syllable (2 Sam.15.19.W5.S1) and character.