Judges 20:3:1Judg.20.3.W1TAB
וַֽיִּשְׁמְעוּ֙
vayishmeu
“and they heard”
- Transliteration
- va-yish-me-U
- Extended
- vah-yish-meh-OO
- IPA
- /vaj.jiʃ.məˈʕuː/
Meaning by language
- English
- and they heard
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 | |
| Hireq | 'ee' as in machine | |
| Shin | shin with right dot; sin with left dot | |
| Sheva | silent sheva — no sound; closes the syllable | |
| Mem | m as in mother | |
| Sheva | vocal sheva — a short 'e' (ə), begins a syllable | |
| Ayin | deep guttural stop, voiced pharyngeal | |
| Vav | v as in vine; marks long ō / ū |
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Now you try — trace the word:
The word
Word in context
- word
va-yish-me-U
- clause
va-yish-me-U be-NE bin-ya-MIN ki-a-LU ve-NE-yis-ra-EL ham-mits-PA
- sentence
va-yish-me-U be-NE bin-ya-MIN ki-a-LU ve-NE-yis-ra-EL ham-mits-PA va-yo-me-RU be-NE yis-ra-EL dab-be-RU e-KHA nih-ye-TA ha-ra-A haz-ZOT
Exegesis
The narrative begins with the vav-consecutive wayyišmə‛û {וַֽיִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ | wayyišmə‛û} ‘and they heard,’ immediately resuming the action.
Root and etymology
shin–mem–ayinshin–mem–ayin
“to hear”
In context — Judges 20:3
And the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah . Then the sons of Israel said, “Speak! How did this evil take place?”
About this coordinate
Judges 20:3:1 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 1 of Judges 20:3, so the Hebrew word וַֽיִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ (vayishmeu) 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.20.3.W1, which extends further down to each syllable (Judg.20.3.W1.S1) and character.