Exodus 16:3:1Exod.16.3.W1TAB

וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ

vayomru

{And They} said

Transliteration
va-yom-RU
Extended
vah-yohm-ROO
IPA
/vaj.jomˈruː/

Meaning by language

English
{And They} said

Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it

Result
וַ + יֹּאמְ + ר֨וּ
va + yom + ru
vayomru

Alphabet Analysis

Vavv as in vine; marks long ō / ū
Patachshort 'ah' as in father
Yody as in yes; marks long ī
Holemlong 'oh' as in go
Alephsilent — a glottal stop; holds vowel points
Memm as in mother
Shevasilent sheva — no sound; closes the syllable
Reshr guttural, like the French r
Vavv as in vine; marks long ō / ū

Tap any letter to hear its name and sound

Vowels (Niqqud)

Now you try — trace the word:

The word

Word in context

  1. word

    va-yom-RU

  2. phraseyour reading level

    va-yom-RU a-le-HEM

  3. clause

    va-yom-RU a-le-HEM be-NEI yis-ra-EL mi-yit-TEN moo-TE-noo ve-yad-ye-ho-VAH be-E-rets mits-RA-yim be-shiv-TE-noo al-SIR ha-ba-SAR be-okh-LE-noo LE-khem la-SO-va

  4. sentence

    va-yom-RU a-le-HEM be-NEI yis-ra-EL mi-yit-TEN moo-TE-noo ve-yad-ye-ho-VAH be-E-rets mits-RA-yim be-shiv-TE-noo al-SIR ha-ba-SAR be-okh-LE-noo LE-khem la-SO-va ki-ho-tse-TEM o-TA-noo el-ham-mid-BAR ha-ZE le-ha-MIT et-kol-hak-ka-HAL ha-ZE ba-ra-AV

Exegesis

The verse opens with vayomru {וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ | way-yōm-rû} ‘and they said’, a wayyiqtol form introducing the lament.

Root and etymology

ʾ-m-raleph–mem–resh

to speak

In contextExodus 16:3

And the sons of Israel said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pot of meat and ate bread until we were full. But you have brought us out into this wilderness to make this entire assembly die in famine.”

About this coordinate

Exodus 16:3:1 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 1 of Exodus 16:3, so the Hebrew word וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ (vayomru) 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 Exod.16.3.W1, which extends further down to each syllable (Exod.16.3.W1.S1) and character.