| 5. Linguistic Exegesis uva’ittim {וּבָעִתִּ֣ים | ū-vā-ʿit-tîm} ‘in those times’ begins the verse as a temporal clause. The demonstrative hahem {הָהֵ֔ם | hā-hêm} ‘those’ anticipates the participles. The negative existential ʾên šālôm {אֵ֥ן שָׁל֖וֹם | ʾên šālôm} ‘there was no peace’ forms a nominal existential clause. The coordinated participles layotze {לַיּוֹצֵ֣א | lă-yō-ṣê} ‘going out’ and velabba {וְלַבָּ֑א | wə-lă-bāʾ} ‘coming in’ function as predicate complements introduced by lamed prepositions and rendered as relative clauses in English. The conjunction kî {כִּ֚י | kî} introduces a causal clause headed by the noun phrase mehummot rabbôṯ {מְהוּמֹ֣ת רַבּ֔וֹת | mə-hū-mōṯ rabbôṯ} ‘many disturbances.’ The prepositional phrase ʿal kol-yoshvei hā-ʾǎ-rā-ṣōṯ {עַל כָּל־יוֹשְׁבֵ֖י הָאֲרָצֽוֹת | ʿal kol-yōš-vê hā-ʾǎ-rā-ṣōṯ} extends the action to all inhabitants of the lands. The fronting of the temporal clause adds emphasis, and the existential construction conveys the intensifying unrest. |