וְלָ֤מָּה

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 וְלָ֤מָּה

   ve-LA-ma

   and why
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 וְלָ֤מָּה זֶּה֙

   ve-LA-ma ZE

   and why this
3. clause🔊 וַיַּ֩עַן֩ כָּל־אִ֨ישׁ יְהוּדָ֜ה עַל־אִ֣ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל כִּֽי־קָרֹ֤וב הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֵלַ֔י וְלָ֤מָּה זֶּה֙ חָרָ֣ה לְךָ֔ עַל־הַדָּבָ֖ר הַזֶּ֑ה

   va-YA-an KOL-ISH ye-hu-DA AL-ISH yis-ra-EL ki-ka-ROV ha-ME-lekh E-lai ve-LA-ma ZE kha-RA le-KHA al-ha-da-VAR ha-ZE

   and answered every man of Judah to the man of Israel for close is the king to me and why this has burned to you over the matter this
4. sentence🔊 וַיַּ֩עַן֩ כָּל־אִ֨ישׁ יְהוּדָ֜ה עַל־אִ֣ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל כִּֽי־קָרֹ֤וב הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֵלַ֔י וְלָ֤מָּה זֶּה֙ חָרָ֣ה לְךָ֔ עַל־הַדָּבָ֖ר הַזֶּ֑ה הֶאָכֹ֤ל אָכַ֙לְנוּ֙ מִן־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ אִם־נִשֵּׂ֥את נִשָּׂ֖א לָ֥נוּ׃

   va-YA-an KOL-ISH ye-hu-DA AL-ISH yis-ra-EL ki-ka-ROV ha-ME-lekh E-lai ve-LA-ma ZE kha-RA le-KHA al-ha-da-VAR ha-ZE he-a-KHOL a-KHAL-nu min-ha-ME-lekh im-nis-SET nis-SA LA-nu

   and answered every man of Judah to the man of Israel for close is the king to me and why this has burned to you over the matter this have we eaten we have eaten from the king or have we carried we have carried for ourselves

Exegesis

The interrogative wə-lā-mah {וְלָ֤מָּה | wə-lā-mah} with ḥā-rāh {חָרָ֣ה | ḥā-rāh} forms the complaint “and why was there anger?” The Hifil infinitive construct ‘al-ha-‘ā-lō-tî introduces the action of returning the king. The double negative wə-hă-lōʾ … ’im underscores denial of personal gain, with mē-’ō-khal ’ā-khal-nû min-ha-mē-lekh preserving expense nuance, and nā-sā-ti nā-sāʾ lā-nû emphasizing that no gift was carried to them. This maintains Hebrew parallelism, interrogative force, and kinship emphasis.