מִשְּׂמֹ֖אל

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 מִשְּׂמֹ֖אל

   mis-se-MOL

   north of
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 אֲשֶׁ֥ר מִשְּׂמֹ֖אל

   a-SHER mis-se-MOL

   which is north of
3. clause🔊 וֽ͏ַיִּרְדְּפֵם֙ עַד־חוֹבָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר מִשְּׂמֹ֖אל לְדַמָּֽשֶׂק׃

   va-yir-de-FEM ad-kho-VA a-SHER mis-se-MOL le-dam-ma-SEK

   {And} he pursued them as far as Hobah which is north of Damascus
4. sentence🔊 וַיֵּחָלֵ֨ק עֲלֵיהֶ֧ם לַ֛יְלָה ה֥וּא וַעֲבָדָ֖יו וַיַּכֵּ֑ם וֽ͏ַיִּרְדְּפֵם֙ עַד־חוֹבָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר מִשְּׂמֹ֖אל לְדַמָּֽשֶׂק׃

   va-ye-kha-LEK a-lei-HEM LAI-la HU va-a-va-DAV va-ya-KEM va-yir-de-FEM ad-kho-VA a-SHER mis-se-MOL le-dam-ma-SEK

   he and his servants {And He} divided against them by night {And} he struck them {And} he pursued them as far as Hobah which is north of Damascus

Exegesis

Spatially, the prepositional phrase ad-Khovah {עַד־חוֹבָה | ʿaḏ-ḥō-vāh} ‘as far as Hobah’ gives the limit of the chase, while the relative clause introduced by asher {אֲשֶׁר | ʾă-šer} ‘which’ adds a geographical clarification: missemol le-Damaseq {מִשְּׂמֹאל לְדַמָּשֶׂק | mis-sə-mōl lə-dam-mā-śeq} ‘to the north of Damascus’. The idiom missemol ‘from the left’ encodes the idea of ‘north’ from the perspective of facing east, a common Hebrew orientation system. In translation, the sequential wayyiqtol forms are rendered as simple past verbs to maintain fluent narrative movement, while the reflexive sense of vayehalek is expressed with “divided himself” or by specifying the divided forces in the dynamic rendering. The Hebrew relative clause is preserved with “which is to the north of Damascus,” making the spatial reference clear in contemporary English.

Root and etymology

ʾ-l🔊 א־ל

“god, mighty one”

• 🔊 אֱלֹהִיםElohimGodGenesis 1:1