אִם־אֶמְצָ֣א

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 אִם־אֶמְצָ֣א

   im-em-TSA

   if I find
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 אִם־אֶמְצָ֣א שָׁ֔ם

   im-em-TSA SHAM

   if I find there
3. clause🔊 וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אַשְׁחִ֔ית אִם־אֶמְצָ֣א שָׁ֔ם אַרְבָּעִ֖ים וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה׃

   va-yo-MER LO ash-KHIT im-em-TSA SHAM ar-ba-IM va-kha-mi-SHA

   {And} he said not I will destroy if I find forty and five there
4. sentence🔊 א֠וּלַי יַחְסְר֞וּן חֲמִשִּׁ֤ים הַצַּדִּיקִם֙ חֲמִשָּׁ֔ה הֲתַשְׁחִ֥ית בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֖ה אֶת־כָּל־הָעִ֑יר וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אַשְׁחִ֔ית אִם־אֶמְצָ֣א שָׁ֔ם אַרְבָּעִ֖ים וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה׃

   u-LAI yakh-se-RUN kha-mi-SHIM ha-tsa-di-KIM kha-mi-SHA ha-tash-KHIT ba-kha-mi-SHA et-kol-ha-IR va-yo-MER LO ash-KHIT im-em-TSA SHAM ar-ba-IM va-kha-mi-SHA

   perhaps five fifty the righteous are lacking will you destroy the whole city for five {And} he said not I will destroy if I find forty and five there

Exegesis

The conditional clause im emtsa sham arbaʿim vakhammishah {אִם־אֶמְצָא שָׁם אַרְבָּעִים וַחֲמִשָּׁה | ʾim-ʾem-ṣāʾ šām ʾar-bā-ʿîm wa-ḥă-miš-šāh} tightly links the promised restraint from judgment to the specific number “forty and five.” The English renderings mirror this structure by preserving the hypothetical opening (“Perhaps… / What if…”), the pointed question about destroying “the whole city,” and the explicit conditional promise (“I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there”), thereby reflecting both the logical precision and the relational tone of the dialogue.

Root and etymology

m-ṣ-ʾ🔊 מ־צ־אmem–tsade–aleph

“to find, encounter”

• 🔊 מָצָאmā-ṣāʾhe foundGenesis 2:20