וְנָשְׂא֨וּ עָלַ֤יִךְ קִינָה֙ וְאָ֣מְרוּ לָ֔ךְ אֵ֣יךְ אָבַ֔דְתְּ נוֹשֶׁ֖בֶת מִיַּמִּ֑ים הָעִ֣יר הַהֻלָּ֗לָה אֲשֶׁר֩ הָיְתָ֨ה חֲזָקָ֤ה בַיָּם֙ הִ֣יא וְיֹשְׁבֶ֔יהָ אֲשֶׁר־נָתְנ֥וּ חִתִּיתָ֖ם לְכָל־יוֹשְׁבֶֽיהָ׃
Ils entonneront sur toi une complainte et te diront: "Comme tu as péri, toi si populeuse grâce aux mers, ville illustre, si puissante sur les flots, toi et tes habitants, qui inspiraient la terreur à tous les voisins!
Ibn Ezra
Many grammarians have said that the interrogatory heh doubles the consonant that follows it only when the consonant is pronounced with a voiced schwa, but not with any of the seven other vowels. In such a case the heh is pronounced with a pattaḥ because the language will not permit two voiced semi-vowels to follow one another. Because the yod in would it have pleased [Hebrew: hayyiṭav] is doubled, they say that the heh must be the sign of the definite article, as in “the one that came back with Naomi” [Ruth 2:6], “the ones that are present here” [I Chronicles 29:17], and “the city that was strong” [Ezekiel 26:17]. There the heh acts as a relative pronoun, and they say the same is true here with hayyiṭav . They also say that the verb if I were to eat is really in the simple past tense — if it were in the subjunctive, it would be stressed on the final syllable (compare, “I have spoken by the prophets” [Hosea 12:11] and “I shall speak to you” [Exodus 25:22]) — and that Aaron refers to their (his burnt sons’) sin-offering and their burnt-offering because the calf and the ram were for Aaron and his sons.