Judges 20:18:15Judg.20.18.W15TAB
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר
vayomer
“and he said”
- Transliteration
- va-yo-MER
- Extended
- vah-yoh-MEHR
- IPA
- /vaj.joˈmɛr/
Meaning by language
- English
- and he said
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Vav | v as in vine; marks long ō / ū | |
| Patach | short 'ah' as in father | |
| Yod | y as in yes; marks long ī | |
| Holem | long 'oh' as in go | |
| Aleph | silent — a glottal stop; holds vowel points | |
| Mem | m as in mother | |
| Seghol | short 'eh' as in met | |
| Resh | r guttural, like the French r |
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The word
Word in context
- word
va-yo-MER
- phraseyour reading level
va-yo-MER Ye-ho-VAH
- clause
va-yo-MER Ye-ho-VAH ye-hu-DA ba-te-khi-LA
- sentence
va-ya-KU-mu va-ya-a-LU BET-EL va-yish-e-a-LU be-e-lo-HIM va-yo-ME-ru be-NE yis-ra-EL MI ya-a-LE-la-NU ba-te-khi-LA la-mil-kha-MA IM-be-NE bin-ya-MIN va-yo-MER Ye-ho-VAH ye-hu-DA ba-te-khi-LA
Exegesis
The response clause uses wayyōmer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wayyōmer} ‘and he said’, positioning Yᵊhōwāh {יְהוָה | Yᵊhōwāh} as the divine speaker and yᵊhûḏāh baṯ-tᵊḥillāh {יְהוּדָה בַּתְּחִלָּה | yᵊhûḏāh baṯ-tᵊḥillāh} ‘Judah first’ as the decisive answer. English word order preserves the vav narrative sequence and retains the interrogative structure to maintain narrative tension.
Root and etymology
א־מ־ר
“to speak, say”
In context — Judges 20:18
And they rose and went up to Bethel, and they asked of God . The sons of Israel said, “Who shall go up first for us in battle against the sons of Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Judah shall go up first.”
About this coordinate
Judges 20:18:15 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 15 of Judges 20:18, so the Hebrew word וַיֹּ֥אמֶר (vayomer) 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 Judg.20.18.W15, which extends further down to each syllable (Judg.20.18.W15.S1) and character.