| 28. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with the vav-consecutive clause vaya‘an {וַיַּעַן | wayya‘an} ‘and he answered’, which introduces a responsive utterance, followed by the designation ’îš mê-hā‘ām {אִישׁ מֵהָעָם | ’îš mê-hā‘ām} ‘a man from the people’ identifying the speaker. The second vav-consecutive verb wayyōmer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wayyōmer} ‘and he said’ shifts to direct discourse. The Hiphil participle hašbēa‘ {הַשְׁבֵּעַ | hašbēa‘} ‘solemnly swearing’ and the Hiphil perfect hišbiya‘ {הִשְׁבִּ֨יעַ | hišbiya‘} ‘he made swear’ create an intensified oath formula. The construction ’et-ha-‘ām lēmôr {אֶת־הָעָם לֵאמֹר | ’et-hā-‘ām lēmôr} marks the object and purpose of the oath. The embedded curse formula combines ’ārūr {אָר֥וּר | ’ārūr} ‘cursed’ with ’ăšer-yōkhal {אֲשֶׁר־יֹ֥אכַל | ’ăšer-yōkhal} ‘who eats’, forming a strict conditional prohibition. Finally, the result clause wayya‘ap hā-‘ām {וַיָּעַף הָעָם | wayya‘ap hā-‘ām} ‘and the people became faint’ indicates the immediate physical effect of the oath. Direct speech punctuation is preserved to retain the formal and legal tone of the original decree. |