| 36. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wāyōmer} ‘and he said’, marking the start of reported speech. The preposition el {אֶל־ | ʾel} with hanaʿar {הַנַּעַר | hanāʿar} ‘the boy’ indicates the recipient. The coordinated imperatives ruts ū-məṣāʾ {רוּץ וּמְצָא | rūṣ ū-məṣāʾ} ‘run and find’ present a dual command. The direct-object marker et {אֵת־ | ʾēṯ} introduces ha-ḥiṣṣîm {הַחִצִּים | ha-ḥîṣṣîm} ‘the arrows’, defined by the relative pronoun asher {אֲשֶׁר | ăšer} ‘that’ and modified by yarotah {יָרוֹתָה | yā-rō-ṯâh} ‘I will shoot them’. The narrative resumes with wayyaruts {וַיָּרוּץ | wā-yārûṣ} ‘and he ran’ and wayyipga {וַיִּפְגַּע | wā-yip-gaʿ} ‘and he struck’, continuing the vav-consecutive chain. The phrase be-ḥêṣ rāḥôq minnenu {בֶּחִץ רָחוֹק מִמֶּנּוּ | be-ḥêṣ rāḥôq minnenu} ‘with an arrow far from him’ specifies instrument and distance. English translation smooths Hebrew order to subject–verb–object and renders relational markers idiomatically. |