Numbers 14:41:3Num.14.41.W3TAB
לָ֥מָּה
lamah
“Why”
- Transliteration
- la-MAH
- Extended
- lah-MAAH
- IPA
- /laˈmaː/
Meaning by language
- English
- Why
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Lamed | l as in law | |
| Qamets | long 'ah' | |
| Mem | m as in mother | |
| Qamets | long 'ah' | |
| He | h as in house; silent at word end |
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The word
Word in context
- word
la-MAH
- phraseyour reading level
la-MAH zeh
- clause
va-yo-MER mo-SHEH la-MAH zeh a-TEM ov-RIM et-PI Ye-ho-VAH
- sentence
va-yo-MER mo-SHEH la-MAH zeh a-TEM ov-RIM et-PI Ye-ho-VAH ve-HU LO tits-LAKH
Exegesis
The interrogative lāmāh zēh {לָמָּה זֶּה | lāmāh zēh} ‘why this’ serves as a rhetorical challenge emphasizing the demonstrative zēh.
In context — Numbers 14:41
And Moses said, “Why is this —are you transgressing the command of the LORD ? For it will not succeed.”
About this coordinate
Numbers 14:41:3 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 3 of Numbers 14:41, so the Hebrew word לָ֥מָּה (lamah) 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 Num.14.41.W3, which extends further down to each syllable (Num.14.41.W3.S1) and character.