וּבְאֶ֥פֶ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 וּבְאֶ֥פֶ

   u-ve-E-fes

   and in the absence of
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 וּבְאֶ֥פֶ לְ֝אֹ֗ם

   u-ve-E-fes le-OM

   and in the absence of a people
3. clause🔊 וּבְאֶ֥פֶ לְ֝אֹ֗ם מְחִתַּ֥ת רָזֽוֹן׃

   u-ve-E-fes le-OM me-KHI-tat ra-ZON

   and in the absence of a people a shattering of a ruler
4. sentence🔊 בְּרָב־עָ֥ם הַדְרַת־מֶ֑לֶךְ וּבְאֶ֥פֶ לְ֝אֹ֗ם מְחִתַּ֥ת רָזֽוֹן׃

   be-RAV-AM ha-de-RAT-ME-lekh u-ve-E-fes le-OM me-KHI-tat ra-ZON

   in a multitude of people the splendor of a king and in the absence of a people a shattering of a ruler

Exegesis

The verse consists of two antithetical verbless clauses joined by the adversative conjunction vav uve’efes {וּבְאֶפֶס | ū-bə-ʾe·p̄es} ‘and in lack’.

The contrasting clause uve’efes le’om mechittat razon {וּבְאֶפֶס לְאֹם מְחִתַּת רָזֽוֹן | ū-bə-ʾe·p̄es lə-ʾōm mə-ḥit-tat rā·zôn} ‘and in absence of people, ruin of a ruler’ presents the negative outcome. English renders supply verbs like “is,” “comes,” or “grows” to translate the Hebrew verbless clauses and preserve the antithetical parallelism.