| 23. Linguistic Exegesis The conjunctive vav in ve-avdei {וְעַבְדֵי | və-ʿaḇ-dey} ‘and servants of’ links the subject phrase to the preceding narrative. The perfect verb amru {אָמְרוּ | ʾom-rū} ‘they said’ introduces reported speech. The construct elohei harim {אֱלֹהֵי הָרִים | ʾĕ-lō-hey hā-rīm} ‘gods of the hills’ signals divine-territorial association, and the causal connector al-ken {עַל־כֵּן | ʿal-kēn} ‘therefore’ ties that to the result khazku mimenu {חָזְקוּ מִמֶּנּוּ | ḥāz-qū mim-men-nū} ‘they were stronger than us’. The adversative ve-ulam {וְאוּלָם | wə-ʾū-lām} ‘but’ introduces the cohortative nil-lakhem {נִלָּחֵם | nil-lā-ḥēm} ‘let us fight’, followed by the locative ba-mishor {בַּמִּישׁוֹר | ba-mī-šôr} ‘in the plain’ as the tactical setting. The negative conditional im-lo nekhazak mehem {אִם־לֹא נֶחֱזַק מֵהֶם | ʾim-lō neḥ-ḥa-zaq mē-hem} ‘if not, we will be stronger than they’ conveys assured victory contingent on venue. Hebrew aspect and particles are rendered through tense and conjunction choices to reflect sequence and emphatic confidence. |