| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The dialogue opens with vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wayyōmer} ‘and he said,’ a vav-consecutive narrative marker. The question mah-ʾelleh-lāk {מָה־אֵלֶּה לָּךְ | māh-ʾelleh-lāk} ‘what are these to you’ employs an interrogative pronoun plus demonstrative and pronominal suffix to express inquiry and ownership. Ziba’s answer uses a series of infinitive constructs linked by conjunctions for purpose: haḥămorīm ləḇēt-hamméleḵ lirqōḇ {הַחֲמוֹרִים לְבֵית־הַמֶּלֶךְ לִרְכֹּב | haḥămorīm ləḇēt-hamméleḵ lirqōḇ} ‘the donkeys for the king’s house to ride,’ followed by wə-halleḥem wə-haqqayits lēʾēḵōl hanəʿārīm {וְהַלֶּחֶם וְהַקַּיִץ לֶאֱכֹל הַנְּעָרִים | wə-halleḥem wə-haqqayits lēʾēḵōl hanəʿārīm} ‘and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat,’ and wə-ha-yayin lištōṯ hayyāʿēp bammidbār {וְהַיַּיִן לִשְׁתּוֹת הַיָּעֵף בַּמִּדְבָּר | wə-ha-yayin lištōṯ hayyāʿēp bammidbār} ‘and the wine to give drink to the weary in the wilderness.’ The paratactic chaining of infinitives reflects Hebrew economy of expression, requiring English subordinate clauses to preserve clarity and the ordered sequence of intended uses. |