מֵעַ֥ל

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 מֵעַ֥ל

   me-AL

   from upon
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 מֵעַ֥ל זְרֹעֹתָ֖יו

   me-AL ze-ro-o-TAV

   from upon his arms
3. clause🔊 וַֽיְנַתְּקֵ֛ם מֵעַ֥ל זְרֹעֹתָ֖יו כַּחֽוּט׃

   va-ye-nat-ke-EM me-AL ze-ro-o-TAV ka-KHUT

   and he snapped them off from upon his arms like a thread
4. sentence🔊 וַתִּקַּ֣ח דְּלִילָה֩ עֲבֹתִ֨ים חֲדָשִׁ֜ים וַתַּאַסְרֵ֣הוּ בָהֶ֗ם וַתֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֤ים עָלֶ֙יךָ֙ שִׁמְשׁ֔וֹן וְהָאֹרֵ֖ב יֹשֵׁ֣ב בֶּחָ֑דֶר וַֽיְנַתְּקֵ֛ם מֵעַ֥ל זְרֹעֹתָ֖יו כַּחֽוּט׃

   va-tik-KHAKH de-li-LA a-vo-TIM kha-da-SHIM va-ta-as-re-HU va-HEM va-TO-mer e-LAV pe-lish-TIM a-LE-kha shim-SHON ve-ha-o-REV yo-SHEV be-KHA-der va-ye-nat-ke-EM me-AL ze-ro-o-TAV ka-KHUT

   and she took Delilah ropes new and she bound him with them and she said to him Philistines upon you Samson and the one lying in ambush was sitting in an inner room and he snapped them off from upon his arms like a thread

Exegesis

The narrative concludes with wayenattekem {וַיְנַתְּקֵם | wa-yə-nat-tê-ḵem} ‘and he tore them off’, the prepositional phrase meal zerotav {מֵעַל זְרֹעֹתָיו | mê-ʿāl zə-rō-ʿō-ṯāw} ‘from his arms’, and the simile kahut {כַּחֽוּט | ka-ḥūṭ} ‘like a thread’. This structure tightly connects Delilah’s deception to Samson’s swift liberation.