| 4. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with vayiven {וַיִּבֶן | wayyiḇen} ‘and he built’, employing the vav-consecutive imperfect to advance the chronology. The particle et {אֶת | ʾet} marks Tadmor {תַּדְמֹר | ṭaḏmôr} as the definite object, then the locative bamidbar {בַּמִּדְבָּר | bammidbar} ‘in the wilderness’ situates the action. The coordinated object phrase begins with ve-et {וְאֵת | wə-ʾēt} and introduces kol arei hamiskhenot {כָּל־עָרֵי הַמִּסְכְּנוֹת | kol-ʿārê hammiskənōṯ} ‘all the store-cities’, where kol and arei form a construct chain. The relative clause asher banah bachamat {אֲשֶׁר בָּנָה בַּחֲמָת | ʾăšer bānâ baḥāmat} ‘which he had built in Hamath’ postpositively modifies the store-cities, clarifying their prior establishment. English renders the sequence as simple past, preserving the Hebrew’s emphasis on sequential accomplishment and geographic specificity. |