| 4. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with vayetsav {וַיְצַו | way-ye-ṣāv} “and he commanded,” a Piel imperfect verb with vav-consecutive marking past action. The prepositional infinitive lidrosh {לִדְרֹושׁ | lī-dṓ-rôš} “to seek” functions as an objective purpose clause, while the direct-object marker et {אֵת־ | ʾēt} introduces the compound divine object Yahweh elohei avoteihem {יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵיהֶם | Yəhōwāh ʾĕ-lō-hê ʾa-bō-ṯê-hem}. The coordinated infinitive velaasot {וְלַעֲשׂוֹת | wə-lă-ʿă-šôṯ} “and to do” creates a parallel obligation alongside “to seek,” governing two objects: hattorah {הַתּוֹרָה | hattôrāh} “the law” and vehammitsvah {וְהַמִּצְוָה | wə-ham-mîṣ-wâh} “the commandment.” The paratactic vav {וְ} linkage preserves the dual devotional-legal emphasis in the English. |