| 35. Linguistic Exegesis The verse is a tight narrative report built from two clauses joined by wəgam {וְגַ֥ם | wəgam} ‘and also/even’, which heightens the second action as an added, emphatic result. The first clause uses a wayyiqtol form, wayyēlĕkû {וַיֵּלְכ֣וּ | wayyēlĕkû} ‘and they went’, with verb-first order before the subject hammayim {הַמַּ֔יִם | hammayim} ‘the water’, a common Hebrew sequencing that pushes the motion to the foreground. The adverb sāḇîḇ {סָבִ֖יב | sāḇîḇ} ‘around’ precedes the prepositional phrase lammizbēaḥ {לַמִּזְבֵּ֑חַ | lammizbēaḥ} ‘to/at the altar’, portraying complete encirclement. The second clause marks the trench as the direct object with ʾet-hattəʿālāh {אֶת־הַתְּעָלָ֖ה | ʾet-hattəʿālāh}, then describes a completed outcome with millēʾ-māyim {מִלֵּא־מָֽיִם | millēʾ-māyim}, where “water” functions as the content of what fills the trench, naturally expressed in English as “filled … with water.” |