| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The construct chain kanfei {כַּנְפֵי | kăn-p̄ê} ‘wings’ + hak’ruvim {הַכְּרוּבִים | hă-kə-rû-vîm} ‘cherubim’ indicates possession. The participle porsim {פֹּרְשִׂים | pôr-śîm} ‘spreading’ governs the measurement phrase ammot esrim {אַמּוֹת עֶשְׂרִים | ʾam-môṯ ʿe-srîm} ‘twenty cubits.’ The sequence vehem omdim {וְהֵם עֹמְדִים | wə-hêm ʿôḏ-mîm} ‘and they were standing’ resumes the subject, and al-raglehem {עַל־רַגְלֵיהֶם | ʿal-răg-lê-hem} ‘upon their feet’ adds locative detail. Finally, u-fnehem la-bayit {וּפְנֵיהֶם לַבָּיִת | ū-pən-ê-hem lă-bā-yît} ‘and their faces toward the house’ specifies orientation. The Hebrew participial style forms a paratactic sequence, creating vivid, uninterrupted description; English preserves this with a compound sentence structure. |