Deuteronomy 19:21:5Deut.19.21.W5TAB
בְּנֶ֗פֶשׁ
benefesh
“for life”
- Transliteration
- be-NE-fesh
- Extended
- beh-NEH-fesh
- IPA
- /bɛˈnɛfɛʃ/
Meaning by language
- English
- for life
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Bet | b with dagesh; v without dagesh | |
| Sheva | vocal sheva — a short 'e' (ə), begins a syllable | |
| Nun | n as in new | |
| Seghol | short 'eh' as in met | |
| Pe | p with dagesh; f without | |
| Seghol | short 'eh' as in met | |
| Shin | shin with right dot; sin with left dot |
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The word
Word in context
- word
be-NE-fesh
- phraseyour reading level
NE-fesh be-NE-fesh
- clause
NE-fesh be-NE-fesh A-yin be-A-yin SHEN be-SHEN YAD be-YAD RE-gel be-RA-gel
- sentence
ve-LO ta-KHOS ei-NE-kha NE-fesh be-NE-fesh A-yin be-A-yin SHEN be-SHEN YAD be-YAD RE-gel be-RA-gel
Exegesis
What follows is a lex talionis pattern of parallel noun–prepositional noun phrases: nefesh be-nefesh {נֶ֣פֶשׁ בְּנֶ֗פֶשׁ | ne-fēš bə-ne-fēš} ‘life for life’, ayin be-ayin {עַ֤יִן בְּעַ֙יִן֙ | ʿă-yîn bə-ʿă-yîn} ‘eye for eye’, shen be-shen {שֵׁ֣ן בְּשֵׁ֔ן | šên bə-šên} ‘tooth for tooth’, yad be-yad {יָ֥ד בְּיָ֖ד | yād bə-yād} ‘hand for hand’, regel be-ragel {רֶ֥גֶל בְּרָֽגֶל | re-gēl bə-rā-gēl} ‘foot for foot’. The preposition בְּ (bə) marks equivalence, enforcing precise reciprocity. The repeated structure creates poetic parallelism, and the single English clause uses a semicolon to reflect the Hebrew disjunction.
Root and etymology
נ־פ־שׁ
“to breathe, live”
In context — Deuteronomy 19:21
And your eye shall not have pity ; life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
About this coordinate
Deuteronomy 19:21:5 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 5 of Deuteronomy 19:21, so the Hebrew word בְּנֶ֗פֶשׁ (benefesh) 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 Deut.19.21.W5, which extends further down to each syllable (Deut.19.21.W5.S1) and character.