וַיֵּאָ֥סֶף

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 וַיֵּאָ֥סֶף

   va-ye-A-sef

   and was gathered
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 וַיֵּאָ֥סֶף אֶל־עַמָּֽיו׃

   va-ye-A-sef el-am-MAV

   and was gathered to his people
3. clause🔊 וַיִּגְוַ֖ע וַיֵּאָ֥סֶף אֶל־עַמָּֽיו׃

   va-yig-VA va-ye-A-sef el-am-MAV

   and expired and was gathered to his people
4. sentence🔊 וַיְכַ֤ל יַעֲקֹב֙ לְצַוֺּ֣ת אֶת־בָּנָ֔יו וַיֶּאֱסֹ֥ף רַגְלָ֖יו אֶל־הַמִּטָּ֑ה וַיִּגְוַ֖ע וַיֵּאָ֥סֶף אֶל־עַמָּֽיו׃

   va-ye-KHAL ya-a-KOV le-tsav-VOT et-ba-NAV va-ye-e-SOF rag-LAV el-ha-mit-TA va-yig-VA va-ye-A-sef el-am-MAV

   Jacob and finished to command his sons and gathered his feet to the bed and expired and was gathered to his people

Exegesis

The next wayyiqtol, vayeesof {וַיֶּאֱסֹ֥ף | way-yeʾ-ĕ-sōf} ‘and he gathered’ takes raglav {רַגְלָ֖יו | rag-lāw} ‘his feet’ as object, followed by the prepositional phrase el hamittah {אֶל־הַמִּטָּ֑ה | ʾel ham-mit-tāh} ‘to the bed,’ portraying a deliberate, composed movement that transitions to the moment of death.

The final wayyiqtol in Niphal, vayeasef {וַיֵּאָסֶף | way-yē-ʾā-sēf}, followed by el ammav {אֶל־עַמָּֽיו | ʾel ʿam-māw} ‘to his people,’ forms an idiomatic clause expressing joining one’s kin in death. This sequence (finished, gathered his feet, expired, was gathered) creates a dignified progression from completed speech to physical preparation, then to death itself, and finally to postmortem solidarity. The English renderings preserve the coordinated past actions, clarify Hebrew idioms of death, and maintain the sense of intentional transition.

Root and etymology

aleph–samekh–pe🔊 אסףaleph–samekh–pe

“to gather”

• 🔊 אָסִיפָהʾā-sî-fāhgatheringExodus 23:16