| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The conditional conjunction wə-ʾim {וְאִם | wə-ʾim} ‘and if’ sets a hypothetical. The adverb kô {כֹּה | kô} ‘thus’ frames the expected reply. The imperfect yōmerū {יֹאמְרוּ | yō-mer-û} ‘they say’ marks reported speech. The imperative ʿălû {עֲלוּ | ʿă-lû˓} ‘come up’ appears within direct quotation. The prepositional phrase ʿālênû {עָלֵינוּ | ʿā-lê-nû} ‘to us’ indicates direction. The vav-consecutive wə-ʿālînû {וְעָלִינוּ | wə-ʿă-lî-nû} ‘and we will come up’ expresses resolve. The particle kî {כִּי | kî} ‘because’ introduces cause. The perfect nəṯanām {נְתָנָם | nə-tā-nām} ‘he has given them’ attributes action to the divine subject. The idiom bə-yāḏênû {בְּיָדֵנוּ | bə-yā-ḏê-nû} ‘into our hand’ conveys victory. The demonstrative wə-zêh {וְזֶה | wə-zêh} ‘and this’ begins the result clause. The noun hā-ʾôt {הָאוֹת | hā-ʾôt} ‘the sign’ designates divine confirmation. English preserves the vav-consecutive to convey future intent and maintains the protasis–apodosis structure to mirror the Hebrew conditional, underscoring divine deliverance and human response. |