| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive marker vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wā-yō-mer} introducing direct speech. The speaker’s perfect verb ra’iti {רָאִיתִי | rā-’î-tî} ‘I saw’ takes kol yisra’el {כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל | kāl yiś-rā-’ēl} ‘all Israel’ as its object, modified by the participle nefotzim {נְפוֹצִים | nə-pō-ṣîm} ‘scattered’ and the spatial phrase al heharim {עַל־הֶהָרִים | ʿal hē-hā-rîm} ‘on the mountains’. The simile katson {כַּצֹּאן | ka-ṣō-’an} ‘like sheep’ is qualified by the relative clause introduced by asher {אֲשֶׁר | ’ă-šer} ‘that’ with the negative construction ein lahen ro’eh {אֵין־לָהֶן רֹעֶה | ’ên lā-hen rō-’eh} ‘they have no shepherd’. A second vav-consecutive vayomer Yahweh {וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה | wā-yō-mer yə-hō-wāh} ‘and the LORD said’ introduces a divine oracle, followed by the negative nominal clause lo adonim la’eleh {לֹא־אֲדֹנִים לָאֵלֶּה | lō ’ă-dō-nîm lā-’ē-lê} ‘they have no masters’. The final jussive construction yashuvu ish leveito beshalom {יָשׁוּבוּ אִישׁ־לְבֵיתוֹ בְּשָׁלוֹם | yā-šū-vû ’îš lə-bê-ṯō bə-šā-lōm} ‘let each return to his house in peace’ expresses a distributive command that balances individual responsibility with communal well-being. |