וְהִכָּ֥הוּ נֶ֖פֶשׁ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 וְהִכָּ֥הוּ נֶ֖פֶשׁ

   ve-hi-KA-hu NE-fesh

   and strikes him mortally
2. clause🔊 וְכִֽי־יִהְיֶ֥ה אִישׁ֙ שֹׂנֵ֣א לְרֵעֵ֔הוּ וְאָ֤רַב לוֹ֙ וְקָ֣ם עָלָ֔יו וְהִכָּ֥הוּ נֶ֖פֶשׁ וָמֵ֑ת

   ve-KHI-ye-HYEH EESH so-NE le-re-EH-hu ve-a-RAV lo ve-KAM a-LAV ve-hi-KA-hu NE-fesh va-MET

   But if there will be a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes him mortally so that he dies
3. sentence🔊 וְכִֽי־יִהְיֶ֥ה אִישׁ֙ שֹׂנֵ֣א לְרֵעֵ֔הוּ וְאָ֤רַב לוֹ֙ וְקָ֣ם עָלָ֔יו וְהִכָּ֥הוּ נֶ֖פֶשׁ וָמֵ֑ת וְנָ֕ אֶל־אַחַ֖ת הֶעָרִ֥ים הָאֵֽל׃

   ve-KHI-ye-HYEH EESH so-NE le-re-EH-hu ve-a-RAV lo ve-KAM a-LAV ve-hi-KA-hu NE-fesh va-MET ve-NAS el-a-KHAT he-a-RIM ha-EL

   But if there will be a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes him mortally so that he dies and he flees to one of the cities these

Exegesis

The narrative then unfolds through a series of vav-consecutive verbs—veʾārav {וְאָרַב | wə-ʾā-rav} ‘lies in wait’, veqām {וְקָם | wə-qām} ‘rises up’, and vehikkəhû {וְהִכָּהוּ | wə-hik-kā-hû} ‘strikes him’—followed by nep̄ēš wāmeṯ {נֶפֶשׁ וָמֵת | nep̄êš wā-meṯ} ‘life and death,’ creating a vivid causal progression that culminates in the victim’s death.

Root and etymology

נ־פ־ש🔊 n–p–šnun–pe–shin

“breath, life”

• 🔊 נַפְשִׁיnafshimy soulPsalm 42:2