| 15. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive imperfect vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wa-yō-mer} ‘and He said’, marking the introduction of divine speech. The prepositional phrase elav {אֵלָיו | ʾê-lāw} ‘to Him’ identifies the recipient. The paired imperatives lekh {לֵךְ | lēk} ‘Go’ and shuv {שׁוּב | šûwḇ} ‘Return’ form a sequential directive. The construct chain ledarkkha midbarah {לְדַרְכְּךָ מִדְבָּרָה | lə-ḏar-kə-ḵā mid-bā-rā} indicates directional movement ‘by Your way wilderness’, completed by the proper noun dammaseq {דַמָּשֶׂק | dam-mā-seq} ‘Damascus’. The vav-consecutive perfect verbs uvata {וּבָאתָ | ū-ḇā-ṯā} and umashachta {וּמָשַׁחְתָּ | ū-mā-šaḥ-ṯā} sequence arrival and the act of anointing. The particle et marks the direct object chazael {חֲזָאֵל | ḥa-zā-ʾēl}, and the prepositional phrases lemelekh {לְמֶלֶךְ | lə-me-lek} ‘to king’ and alaram {עַל־אֲרָם | ʿal-ʾă-rām} ‘over Aram’ establish the new office. The English order preserves Hebrew syntax and directional nuance through idiomatic punctuation. |