וַיִּשְׁמָֽע׃

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 וַיִּשְׁמָֽע׃

   va-yish-MA

   and listened
2. clause🔊 מִֽי־הִקְשִׁ֥יב דברי דְּבָר֖וֹ וַיִּשְׁמָֽע׃

   MI-hik-SHIV div-RE de-va-RO va-yish-MA

   who paid attention words of his word and listened
3. sentence🔊 כִּ֣י מִ֤י עָמַד֙ בְּס֣וֹד יְהוָ֔ה וְיֵ֖רֶא וְיִשְׁמַ֣ע אֶת־דְּבָר֑וֹ מִֽי־הִקְשִׁ֥יב דברי דְּבָר֖וֹ וַיִּשְׁמָֽע׃

   KI MI a-MAD be-SOD Ye-ho-VAH ve-ye-RE ve-yish-me-A ET-de-va-RO MI-hik-SHIV div-RE de-va-RO va-yish-MA

   for who stood in the council of the LORD and saw and heard {direct object} his word who paid attention words of his word and listened

Exegesis

The coordinated imperfect forms ve-yirʾeh and ve-yishmaʿ {וְיִרְאֶה וְיִשְׁמַע | wə-yirʾeh wə-yišmaʿ} ‘and might see and might hear’ convey potentiality, preserving the modal nuance of the Qal imperfect.

In the second interrogative sequence mî-hiqšîḇ {מִי־הִקְשִׁיב | mî-hiq-šîḇ} ‘who has listened attentively’ (Hiphil perfect) underscores deliberate reception, followed by wayyišmaʿ {וַיִּשְׁמָע | wayyišmaʿ} ‘and heard’ in the v-consecutive perfect. The parallelism of the two questions and the repetition of seeing, hearing, and listening terms intensifies the critique of false prophets claiming insider knowledge. The Hebrew clause structure, marked by rhetorical interrogatives and verb pairings, is rendered in English by maintaining the repeated questions and the distinction between completed and potential actions.

Root and etymology

ש-מ-ע🔊 shin–mem–ayin

“hear”

• 🔊 שְׁמַעšᵉ-māhearDeuteronomy 6:4