Genesis 47:4:
וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֗ה לָג֣וּר בָּאָרֶץ֮ בָּאנוּ֒ כִּי־אֵ֣ין מִרְעֶ֗ה לַצֹּאן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לַעֲבָדֶ֔יךָ כִּֽי־כָבֵ֥ד הָרָעָ֖ב בְּאֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן וְעַתָּ֛ה יֵֽשְׁבוּ־נָ֥א עֲבָדֶ֖יךָ בְּאֶ֥רֶץ גֹּֽשֶׁן
I asked a fellow Torah reader about the placement and pronunciation of the bolded word. The segol is located on the last syllable (milra) which, if I understand, correctly makes the word a present tense verb meaning "we are coming".
My friend tells me that this word is always pronounced with the accent on the first syllable (mil'el) and the placement of the trope is a typo. But, if the accent is on the 1st syllable, wouldn't that change the verb to a past tense verb so it would mean, "we came"?
Is this a typo or is the trope correctly placed?
The above copy comes from sefaria.org. FWIW, I've seen on the same placement on my Smart Phone Tikkun app as well as in the Hertz Chumash. I can't imagine that they are all wrong.
Answer
Trop marks are traditionally always placed on the accented syllable EXCEPT Yetiv and Telisha Gedola which are always on the first letter, and Telisha Ketana, Pashta, Zarka, and Segol which are always on the last letter. In those words, you have to just know where the accent goes. (Many printers nowadays print a second trop mark on the accented syllable in those cases.)
Your friend is right: the word is BA-nu. It is past tense. The present tense form would be ba-IM.
The brother are telling Pharoh why they came to Egypt.
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