Genesis 20:12:9Gen.20.12.W9TAB
לְאִשָּֽׁה׃
leisha
“for a wife”
- Transliteration
- le-i-SHA
- Extended
- leh-ih-SHAA
- IPA
- /lə.ʔiʃ.ˈʃaː/
Meaning by language
- English
- for a wife
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Lamed | l as in law | |
| Sheva | vocal sheva — a short 'e' (ə), begins a syllable | |
| Aleph | silent — a glottal stop; holds vowel points | |
| Hireq | 'ee' as in machine | |
| Shin | shin with right dot; sin with left dot | |
| Qamets | long 'ah' | |
| He | h as in house; silent at word end |
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The word
Word in context
- word
le-i-SHA
- clause
vat-te-hi-LI le-i-SHA
- sentence
ve-gam-om-NA a-kho-TI vat-a-VI HI AKH LO vat-i-MI vat-te-hi-LI le-i-SHA
Exegesis
The wayyiqtol form vatehi li {וַתְּהִי־לִ֖י | wat-tə-hî-lî} ‘and she became to me,’ followed by the complement leishah {לְאִשָּׁה | lə-ʾiš-šāh} ‘for a wife,’ denotes a completed change of status. In English, coordinated clauses with em dash and contrastive conjunction preserve the nuance of restriction, while “became my wife” reflects the Hebrew idiom of entering a new familial relationship.
Root and etymology
RootAleph–Shin–Heh
“woman; wife”
In context — Genesis 20:12
And also, she is indeed my sister—the daughter of my father but not the daughter of my mother—and she became my wife.
About this coordinate
Genesis 20:12:9 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 9 of Genesis 20:12, so the Hebrew word לְאִשָּֽׁה׃ (leisha) 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.20.12.W9, which extends further down to each syllable (Gen.20.12.W9.S1) and character.