| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with machar {מָחָר | mā-ḥār} ‘tomorrow’ marking the temporal setting, followed by redu {רְדוּ | rə-ḏū} ‘go down’ (imperative second person masculine plural) conveying the directive. The participial construction hinam olim {הִנָּם עֹלִים | hin-nām ʿō-lîm} ‘behold they are going up’ expresses ongoing enemy movement. Bema’ale hatzitz {בְּמַעֲלֵה הַצִּיץ | bə-ma-‘ă-lê ha-ṣîṣ} ‘by the ascent of Ziz’ employs a construct chain to denote location. The vav-consecutive in umetzatem {וּמְצָאתֶם | u-mə-ṣā-ʾə-tēm} ‘and you will find’ links sequential actions. Besof hanakhal {בְּסוֹף הַנַּחַל | bə-ṣōf ha-na-ḥāl} ‘at the end of the valley’ uses a spatial prepositional phrase, while penei midbar Yeruel {פְּנֵי מִדְבַּר יְרוּאֵל | pə-nê mid-bār yĕ-rū-’êl} ‘facing the wilderness of Jeruel’ marks orientation. The shift from the Hebrew VSO to English SVO clarifies the tactical instructions without altering the discourse frame. |