| 11. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with the vav-consecutive imperfect vāyishlach {וַיִּשְׁלַח֩ | vayyšlāḥ} ‘and he sent’, initiating a past action. The infinitive constructs ləšāmrō {לְשָׁמְר֔וֹ | ləšāmrō} ‘to guard him’ and wəlaḥammītō {וְלַהֲמִית֖וֹ | wəlaḥammītō} ‘and to kill him’ function as purpose clauses, with bab-bōqer {בַּבֹּ֑קֶר | bab-bōqer} ‘in the morning’ marking the time frame. A shift in subject occurs with vattagēd {וַתַּגֵּ֣ד | vattagēḏ} ‘and she warned’, introducing direct speech via lēʾmōr {לֵאמֹ֔ר | lēʾmōr}. The conditional clause employs ʾênkā {אֵ֨ינְךָ֜ | ʾênkā} ‘you are not’ plus the Piel imperfect memallēṭ {מְמַלֵּ֤ט | memallēṭ} ‘escape’ and object marker ʾet {אֶת־ | ʾet} before nap̄šĕkkā {נַפְשְׁךָ֙ | nap̄šĕkkā} ‘your life’. The deadline hallaylāh {הַלַּ֔יְלָה | hallaylāh} ‘tonight’ contrasts with māḥār {מָחָ֖ר | māḥār} ‘tomorrow’, and the concluding imperfect mūmāṯ {מוּמָֽת | mūmāṯ} ‘you will be killed’ underscores the inevitability of the threat. |