Proverbs 26:9:5Prov.26.9.W5TAB
בְּפִ֣י
befi
“in the mouth of”
- Transliteration
- be-FI
- Extended
- beh-FEE
- IPA
- /bəˈfiː/
Meaning by language
- English
- in the mouth of
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Bet | b with dagesh; v without dagesh | |
| Sheva | vocal sheva — a short 'e' (ə), begins a syllable | |
| Pe | p with dagesh; f without | |
| Hireq | 'ee' as in machine | |
| Yod | y as in yes; marks long ī |
Tap any letter to hear its name and sound
Now you try — trace the word:
The word
Word in context
- word
be-FI
- phraseyour reading level
be-FI khe-si-LIM
- clause
u-ma-SHAL be-FI khe-si-LIM
- sentence
KHO-akh a-LA ve-YAD-shi-KOR u-ma-SHAL be-FI khe-si-LIM
Exegesis
The conjunction u {וּ | ū} marks the parallel clause where u-mashal {וּ֝מָשָׁ֗ל | ū-ma-šāl} ‘proverb’ serves as subject, followed by the locative be-pi {בְּפִ֣י | bə-p̄î} ‘in the mouth of’ and the plural kesilim {כְּסִילִֽים | ke-śî-lîm} ‘fools’. This chiastic structure contrasts the image of a thorn harming a drunkard with a proverb that misfires in the mouth of fools, and the balanced Hebrew parallelism is mirrored in the English rendering.
In context — Proverbs 26:9
Like a thorn rising into the hand of a drunkard , so does a proverb lodge in the mouth of fools.
About this coordinate
Proverbs 26:9:5 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 5 of Proverbs 26:9, so the Hebrew word בְּפִ֣י (befi) 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.26.9.W5, which extends further down to each syllable (Prov.26.9.W5.S1) and character.