| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative employs the vav-consecutive {וַ | wə} ‘then’ to chain past actions: first vayelekh {וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ | wayyēleḵ} ‘and he went’, then vaya‘as {וַיַּ֖עַשׂ | wayya‘aś} ‘and he did’. The construct kî-dābār {כִּדְבַ֣ר | kî-ḏābār} ‘according to the word of’ introduces a source clause anchored by Yahweh {יְהוָ֑ה | Yəhōwāh} ‘the LORD’, highlighting divine authority. The repetition of vayelekh {וַיֵּ֗לֶךְ | wayyēleḵ} focuses Elijah’s movement to the specified site, and vayeshev bĕ-nāḥāl {וַיֵּ֙שֶׁב֙ בְּנַ֣חַל | wayyēšēḇ bə-nāḥāl} ‘and he dwelt in the brook’ signals his settled state. The relative clause ’ăšer ’al-pə-nê ha-Yarden {אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַיַּרְדֵּֽן | ’ă-šer ’al-pə-nê ha-yar-ḏēn} ‘which is before the Jordan’ uses ’al-pə-nê as an idiom for ‘east of’, and the English translation renders the Hebrew clause order and locative precisely. |