Exodus 20:4:8Exod.20.4.W8TAB
וַֽאֲשֶׁ֥ר֩
vaasher
“or that”
- Transliteration
- va-a-SHER
- Extended
- vah-ah-SHEHR
- IPA
- /va.ʔăˈʃɛr/
Meaning by language
- English
- or that
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Vav | v as in vine; marks long ō / ū | |
| Patach | short 'ah' as in father | |
| Aleph | silent — a glottal stop; holds vowel points | |
| Hateph Patach | reduced 'ah' | |
| Shin | shin with right dot; sin with left dot | |
| Seghol | short 'eh' as in met | |
| Resh | r guttural, like the French r |
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The word
Word in context
- word
va-a-SHER
- phraseyour reading level
va-a-SHER ba-A-rets
- clause
LO ta-a-SE-le-kha FE-sel ve-khol-te-mu-NA a-SHER ba-sha-MA-yim mim-ma-AL va-a-SHER ba-A-rets mit-TA-khat
- sentence
LO ta-a-SE-le-kha FE-sel ve-khol-te-mu-NA a-SHER ba-sha-MA-yim mim-ma-AL va-a-SHER ba-A-rets mit-TA-khat va-a-SHER bam-MA-yim mit-TA-khat la-A-rets
Exegesis
Three meristic relative clauses introduced by asher {אֲשֶׁר | ʾă-šer} delineate the three cosmic realms: bashamayim {בַּשָּׁמַיִם | baš-šā-ma-yim} ‘in the heavens’ modified by mimaʿal {מִמַּעַל | mim-ma-ʿal} ‘from above,’ baarets {בָּאָרֶץ | bā-ʾā-reṣ} ‘in the earth’ with mitachat {מִתַּחַת | mit-ta-ḥat} ‘from beneath,’ and bamayim {בַּמַּיִם | bam-ma-yim} ‘in the waters’ with mitachat laarets {מִתַּחַת לָאָרֶץ | mit-ta-ḥat lā-ʾā-reṣ} ‘from beneath the earth.’ This merism expresses totality by spanning upper, middle, and lower domains, forbidding any crafted object from becoming an object of worship.
In context — Exodus 20:4
You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness —whether of what is in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath the earth.
About this coordinate
Exodus 20:4:8 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 8 of Exodus 20:4, so the Hebrew word וַֽאֲשֶׁ֥ר֩ (vaasher) 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.20.4.W8, which extends further down to each syllable (Exod.20.4.W8.S1) and character.