| 9. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the narrative vav consecutive in vayetse {וַיֵּצֵא | vayyēṣēʾ} ‘and he went out’, marking the beginning of Zerah’s advance. The prepositional phrase aleihem {אֲלֵיהֶם | ’ă-lē-hēm} ‘against them’ specifies the adversarial direction. The names zerach {זֶרַח | zéraḥ} ‘Zerah’ and hakushi {הַכּוּשִׁי | hak-kūšî} ‘the Cushite’ identify the leader and his origin. The phrase bechayil {בְּחַיִל | bə-ḥayil} ‘with an army’ introduces the military force, quantified by the construct elef alafim {אֶלֶף אַלְפִים | ’ēlêp̄ ’ălāp̄îm} ‘one thousand times thousands’, an idiom for a million, and by umerkavot {וּמֶרְכָּבוֹת | ūmerkā́vōt} ‘and chariots’ with shelosh meot {שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת | šəlōš mēʾōṯ} ‘three hundred’, specifying armament. Finally, vayavo {וַיָּבֹא | vayyābōʾ} ‘and he came’ plus ad Mareshah {עַד־מָרֵשָׁה | ʿad mārešāh} ‘up to Mareshah’ completes the narrative progression. |