הֶ֖בֶל

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 הֶ֖בֶל

   HE-vel

   vanity or emptiness
2. clause🔊 אֵלֶ֗יךָ גּוֹיִ֤ם יָבֹ֙אוּ֙ מֵֽאַפְסֵי־אָ֔רֶץ וְיֹאמְר֗וּ אַךְ־שֶׁ֙קֶר֙ נָחֲל֣וּ אֲבוֹתֵ֔ינוּ הֶ֖בֶל וְאֵֽין־בָּ֥ם מוֹעִֽיל׃

   E-le-kha go-YIM ya-VO-u me-af-SE-a-rets ve-yo-me-RU AKH-SHE-ker na-kha-LU a-vo-TEI-nu HE-vel ve-EN-BAM mo-IL

   to you nations shall come from the ends of the earth and they will say surely falsehood they have inherited our fathers vanity or emptiness and there is not in them profit or benefit
3. sentence🔊 יְהוָ֞ה עֻזִּ֧י וּמָעֻזִּ֛י וּמְנוּסִ֖י בְּי֣וֹם צָרָ֑ה אֵלֶ֗יךָ גּוֹיִ֤ם יָבֹ֙אוּ֙ מֵֽאַפְסֵי־אָ֔רֶץ וְיֹאמְר֗וּ אַךְ־שֶׁ֙קֶר֙ נָחֲל֣וּ אֲבוֹתֵ֔ינוּ הֶ֖בֶל וְאֵֽין־בָּ֥ם מוֹעִֽיל׃

   Ye-ho-VAH u-ZI u-ma-u-ZI u-me-nu-SI be-YOM tsa-RA E-le-kha go-YIM ya-VO-u me-af-SE-a-rets ve-yo-me-RU AKH-SHE-ker na-kha-LU a-vo-TEI-nu HE-vel ve-EN-BAM mo-IL

   LORD my strength and my stronghold and my refuge in the day of distress to you nations shall come from the ends of the earth and they will say surely falsehood they have inherited our fathers vanity or emptiness and there is not in them profit or benefit

Exegesis

The reported speech uses veyomru {וְיֹאמְר֗וּ | wə-yōm-rû} ‘and they will say’ with the emphatic adverb akh {אַךְ־ | ’aḵ} ‘surely’, followed by the paired nouns sheker {שֶׁקֶר | še-qer} ‘falsehood’ and hevel {הֶבל | he-ḇel} ‘vanity’, and concludes with the existential negation ve’ein bam {וְאֵֽין־בָּ֥ם | wə-’ên bām} ‘and there is not in them’ plus the noun mo’il {מוֹעִיל | mô-ʿîl} ‘profit’. The Hebrew parallelism of protective imagery and prophetic indictment shapes a solemn progression from trust in YHWH to judgment on ancestral inheritance.