לָ֥א

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 לָ֥א

   LAA

   not
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 לָ֥א אִיתֽוֹהִי׃

   LAA i-TO-hi

   not is
3. clause🔊 לָהֵ֣ן אֱלָהִ֔ין דִּ֚י מְדָ֣רְה֔וֹן עִם־בִּשְׂרָ֖א לָ֥א אִיתֽוֹהִי׃

   la-HEN e-la-HIN DI me-dar-HON im-bis-RAA LAA i-TO-hi

   therefore the gods their dwelling whose with flesh not is
4. sentence🔊 וּמִלְּתָ֨א דִֽי־מַלְכָּ֤ה שָׁאֵל֙ יַקִּירָ֔ה וְאָחֳרָן֙ לָ֣א אִיתַ֔י דִּ֥י יְחַוִּנַּ֖הּ קֳדָ֣ם מַלְכָּ֑א לָהֵ֣ן אֱלָהִ֔ין דִּ֚י מְדָ֣רְה֔וֹן עִם־בִּשְׂרָ֖א לָ֥א אִיתֽוֹהִי׃

   u-mil-le-TAA di-mal-KAA sha-EL yak-KEE-RAA ve-a-khoh-RAAN LAA i-TAI DI ye-kha-VVIN-NA ko-DAM mal-KAA la-HEN e-la-HIN DI me-dar-HON im-bis-RAA LAA i-TO-hi

   that the king asks and the thing is difficult and another not there is that can show it before the king therefore the gods their dwelling whose with flesh not is

Exegesis

The conjunction waw with veahoran {וְאָחֳרָן֙ | wə-ʾā-ḥo-rān} ‘and another’ intensifies the statement, leading into the existential negative la itai {לָ֣א אִיתַ֔י | lāʾ ʾî-ṯay} ‘there is none’, followed by the subordinate clause di yechavinnah {דִּ֥י יְחַוִּנַּ֖הּ | dî yə-ḥav-win-nah} ‘who can declare it’, positioned before the king in kodam malka {קֳדָ֣ם מַלְכָּ֑א | qo-ḏām mal-kāʾ} ‘before the king’.

The exception marker lehen {לָהֵ֣ן | lā-hēn} ‘except’ introduces elahin {אֱלָהִ֔ין | ʾĕ-lā-hîn} ‘gods’, further refined by di medarhon im-bisra la itohi {דִּ֚י מְדָ֣רְה֔וֹן עִם־בִּשְׂרָ֖א לָ֥א אִיתֽוֹהִי | dî mə-ḏār-hon ʿim-bis-rāʾ lāʾ ʾî-to-hî} ‘whose dwelling is not with flesh’. The English rendering preserves the layered relative clauses, shifts the idiom to ‘no one else’, and conveys the exclusive access of divine knowledge.

Root and etymology

g-l-ʾ🔊 ג־ל־אgimel–lamed–aleph

“to uncover, reveal”

• 🔊 גָּלָהgālāʾto revealDan 2:19