Genesis 18:28:14Gen.18.28.W14TAB
אַרְבָּעִ֖ים
arbaim
“forty”
- Transliteration
- ar-ba-IM
- Extended
- ahr-bah-EEM
- IPA
- /ʔar.baˈʕiːm/
Meaning by language
- English
- forty
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Aleph | silent — a glottal stop; holds vowel points | |
| Patach | short 'ah' as in father | |
| Resh | r guttural, like the French r | |
| Sheva | silent sheva — no sound; closes the syllable | |
| Bet | b with dagesh; v without dagesh | |
| Qamets | long 'ah' | |
| Ayin | deep guttural stop, voiced pharyngeal | |
| Hireq | 'ee' as in machine | |
| Yod | y as in yes; marks long ī | |
| Mem Sofit | final form of Mem — at word end |
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The word
Word in context
- word
ar-ba-IM
- clause
va-yo-MER LO ash-KHIT im-em-TSA SHAM ar-ba-IM va-kha-mi-SHA
- sentence
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
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
r-b-ʿresh–bet–ayin
“four, in groups of four”
In context — Genesis 18:28
“Perhaps five will be lacking from the fifty righteous . Will You destroy all the city for five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
About this coordinate
Genesis 18:28:14 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 14 of Genesis 18:28, so the Hebrew word אַרְבָּעִ֖ים (arbaim) 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.18.28.W14, which extends further down to each syllable (Gen.18.28.W14.S1) and character.