| 38. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative unfolds through three vav-consecutive verbs marking sequential actions: vayelekh {וַיֵּלֶךְ | wayyēleḵ} ‘and he went,’ vaya‘amod {וַיַּעֲמֹד | wayya‘ămōḏ} ‘and he stood,’ and vayitḥappeś {וַיִּתְחַפֵּשׂ | wayyiṭḥappeś} ‘and he disguised himself.’ The phrase ‘al-haddāreḵ {עַל־הַדָּרֶךְ | ‘al-haddāreḵ} ‘on the road’ establishes both location and waiting purpose. The instrument phrase bā’āper {בָּאֲפֵר | bā’āper} ‘in dust’ combined with ‘al-’ēnāyw {עַל־עֵינָיו | ‘al-’ēnāyw} ‘upon his eyes’ conveys covert concealment. The English rendering preserves the Hebrew word order and highlights the functional roles of the prepositional clauses. |