| 27. Linguistic Exegesis The verse unfolds as a series of vav-consecutive verbs — hatpakedu {הָתְפַּקְּדוּ | hāṯ-paq-qĕ-ḏû} ‘were mustered’, vekholkelu {וְכַלְּכְּלוּ | wə-kal-lĕḵ-lû} ‘were provisioned’, vayelekhu {וַיֵּלְכוּ | vay-yĕl-kû} ‘they went’, vayachanu {וַיַּחֲנוּ | vay-ḥa-nû} ‘they camped’ — depicting Israel’s military sequence. The construct noun bney-yisrael {בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל | bə-nê-yiś-rā-ʾêl} ‘sons of Israel’ identifies the force, with negdam {נֶגְדָּם | neg-dâm} ‘opposite them’ marking spatial contrast. The simile kishnei {כִּשְׁנֵי | kî-šə-nê} ‘like two’ + chasipei {חֲשִׁפֵי | ḥa-šî-pê} ‘flocks’ + izzim {עִזִּים | ʿiz-zîm} ‘goats’ conveys smallness and vulnerability. In contrast, v’aram milu et-ha-aretz {וַאֲרָם מִלְאוּ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ | wa-ʾă-rām mil-û ʾet-hā-ʾā-reṣ} ‘and Aram filled the land’ emphasizes overwhelming numbers. The infinitive construct likratam {לִקְרָאתָם | liq-rā-ʾâṯ-am} ‘to meet them’ expresses purpose, rendered in English as a purpose clause. |