וַיֹּ֤אמֶר

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 וַיֹּ֤אמֶר

   va-YO-mer

   and he said
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יוֹאָב֙

   va-YO-mer yo-AV

   and he said Joab
3. clause🔊 וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יוֹאָב֙ לַכּוּשִׁ֔י לֵ֚ךְ הַגֵּ֥ד לַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֣ר רָאִ֑יתָה

   va-YO-mer yo-AV la-ku-SHI LEKH ha-GED la-ME-lekh a-SHER ra-I-ta

   and he said Joab to the Cushite go tell to the king which you saw
4. sentence🔊 וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יוֹאָב֙ לַכּוּשִׁ֔י לֵ֚ךְ הַגֵּ֥ד לַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֣ר רָאִ֑יתָה וַיִּשְׁתַּ֧חוּ כוּשִׁ֛י לְיוֹאָ֖ב וַיָּ֥רָץ׃

   va-YO-mer yo-AV la-ku-SHI LEKH ha-GED la-ME-lekh a-SHER ra-I-ta va-yish-ta-KHU ku-SHI le-yo-AV va-YA-rats

   and he said Joab to the Cushite go tell to the king which you saw and he bowed down the Cushite to Joab and he ran

Exegesis

The Hebrew narrative employs a vav-consecutive chain with vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wa-yō-mer} ‘and he said’, introducing Joab’s speech, followed by the imperatives lekh {לֵךְ | lēḵ} ‘go’ and haged {הַגֵּד | ha-gēd} ‘tell’, which direct the Cushite’s task.