Proverbs 23:21:4Prov.23.21.W4TAB
וּ֝קְרָעִ֗ים
ukeraim
“and rags”
- Transliteration
- u-ke-ra-IM
- Extended
- oo-keh-raa-EEM
- IPA
- /u.kə.raˈʕiːm/
Meaning by language
- English
- and rags
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Vav | v as in vine; marks long ō / ū | |
| Qof | q — deep k, uvular | |
| Sheva | vocal sheva — a short 'e' (ə), begins a syllable | |
| Resh | r guttural, like the French r | |
| Qamets | long 'ah' | |
| Ayin | deep guttural stop, voiced pharyngeal | |
| Hireq | 'ee' as in machine | |
| Yod | y as in yes; marks long ī | |
| Mem Sofit | final form of Mem — at word end |
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The word
Word in context
- word
u-ke-ra-IM
- clause
u-ke-ra-IM tal-BISH nu-MA
- sentence
ki-so-VE ve-zo-LEL yi-va-RESH u-ke-ra-IM tal-BISH nu-MA
Exegesis
The coordinating waw in u-kera‘im {וּקְרָעִים | u-qer-ā‘îm} leads to a second clause where numah {נוּמָה | nū-mā} functions as the subject of the Hiphil imperfect talbish {תַּלְבִּישׁ | tal-bîš}, personifying drowsiness as causing garments of rags. The parallelism—excess → poverty; lethargy → destitution—reflects the cause-and-effect pattern of Hebrew wisdom literature. In English, participles are rendered as substantive nouns or gerunds, the passive Nifal is rendered actively to preserve nuance, and an indefinite subject (“one” or “them”) is supplied to match the generic Hebrew.
Root and etymology
q-r-‘qof–resh–ayin
“to tear, rend”
In context — Proverbs 23:21
For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor, and drowsiness will clothe one in rags.
About this coordinate
Proverbs 23:21:4 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 4 of Proverbs 23:21, so the Hebrew word וּ֝קְרָעִ֗ים (ukeraim) 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 Prov.23.21.W4, which extends further down to each syllable (Prov.23.21.W4.S1) and character.