| 5. Linguistic Exegesis Hebrew uses two parallel coordinate clauses joined by the conjunction wə {וְ | wə-} ‘and’. Each clause presents the definite noun phrase ha-shen ha-echad {הַשֵּׁן הָאֶחָד | haš-šên hā’êḥād} ‘the one cliff’, followed by the directional prepositional phrase mi-tsafon {מִצָּפוֹן | miṣ-ṣā-pōn} ‘from the north’ or mi-negev {מִנֶּגֶב | min-né-gev} ‘from the south’, and the relational preposition mul {מ֣וּל | mūl} ‘opposite’ plus the place name Mikhmash {מִכְמָשׂ | mi-khmāš} or Geba {גְּבַע | ge-ḇa‘}. This mirroring of structure underscores the symmetrical positioning of the two cliffs. Maintaining the NP + PP + PP sequence in translation preserves the balanced spatial description. |