Numbers 23:17:9Num.23.17.W9TAB
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר
vayomer
“and said”
- Transliteration
- va-yo-MER
- Extended
- vah-yoh-MEHR
- IPA
- /vajˈjoːmɛr/
Meaning by language
- English
- and 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 LO
- clause
va-yo-MER LO ba-LAK mah-di-BER Ye-ho-VAH
- sentence
va-ya-VO e-LAV ve-hin-NO ni-TSAV al-o-la-TO ve-sa-REI mo-AV it-TO va-yo-MER LO ba-LAK mah-di-BER Ye-ho-VAH
Exegesis
Dialogue is introduced by vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | way-yō-mēr} ‘and he said’, leading into the interrogation marked by the maqqef compound mah-dibber {מַה־דִּבֶּר | mah-dib-ber} ‘what spoke’, where the interrogation lacks an explicit object, focusing on the content of the divine communication from YHWH {יְהוָה | Yə-hō-wāh}. The English rendering mirrors the Hebrew sequence to preserve immediacy and highlight the sovereignty of the divine utterance.
Root and etymology
ʾ-m-raleph-mem-resh
“to say”
In context — Numbers 23:17
And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the officials of Moab were with him. Then Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?”
About this coordinate
Numbers 23:17:9 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 9 of Numbers 23:17, so the Hebrew word וַיֹּ֤אמֶר (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 Num.23.17.W9, which extends further down to each syllable (Num.23.17.W9.S1) and character.