Genesis 15:5:16Gen.15.5.W16TAB
זַרְעֶֽךָ׃
zarekha
“your offspring”
- Transliteration
- zar-E-kha
- Extended
- zahr-EH-khah
- IPA
- /zarˈʕɛ.xaː/
Meaning by language
- English
- your offspring
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Zayin | z as in zero | |
| Patach | short 'ah' as in father | |
| Resh | r guttural, like the French r | |
| Sheva | silent sheva — no sound; closes the syllable | |
| Ayin | deep guttural stop, voiced pharyngeal | |
| Seghol | short 'eh' as in met | |
| Kaf Sofit | final form of Kaf — at word end | |
| Qamets | long 'ah' |
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The word
Word in context
- word
zar-E-kha
- clause
va-YO-mer LO KO yih-YE zar-E-kha
- sentence
va-yo-TSE o-TO ha-KHU-tsa va-YO-mer ha-bet-NA ha-sha-MAI-ma us-FOR ha-ko-kha-VIM im-tu-KHAL lis-POR o-TAM va-YO-mer LO KO yih-YE zar-E-kha
Exegesis
A second vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | way-yō-mer} introduces the climactic interpretive statement koh yihyeh zarʿekha {כֹּה יִהְיֶה זַרְעֶךָ | kōh yih-yeh zar-ʿe-kā} ‘so will your offspring be’, where the adverb koh links the visible stars to the future multitude of descendants. The imperfect yihyeh projects this comparison into the future, grounding Abram’s faith in a vivid, experiential sign that the translation preserves through clear sequencing, maintained imperatives, and an explicit conditional clause.
Root and etymology
z-r-ʿ
“seed, offspring”
In context — Genesis 15:5
And He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward the heavens , and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then He said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
About this coordinate
Genesis 15:5:16 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 16 of Genesis 15:5, so the Hebrew word זַרְעֶֽךָ׃ (zarekha) 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 Gen.15.5.W16, which extends further down to each syllable (Gen.15.5.W16.S1) and character.