| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the conditional conjunction ve’im {וְאִם | wə-ʾim} ‘and if’, which establishes a hypothetical premise. It is followed by the reflexive Niphal verb yēʾāśēph {יֵאָסֵף | yēʾāśēph} ‘he withdraws’, indicating voluntary retreat. The coordinating Hifil vav-consecutive wə-his-siʾû {וְהִשִּׂיאוּ | wə-his-siʾû} introduces a collective action by kol yiśrāʾēl {כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל | kol yiśrāʾēl} ‘all Israel’ to bring ḥăvālîm {חֲבָלִים | ḥăvālîm} ‘ropes’ toward hā-ʿîr hahi {הָעִיר הַהִיא | hā-ʿîr hahi} ‘that city’. The two successive prepositional clauses—ʿad hā-náḥal {עַד הַנַּחַל | ʿad hā-náḥal} ‘up to the valley’ and ʿad ăšer lōʾ nimṣāʾ šām {עַד אֲשֶׁר לֹא נִמְצָא שָׁם | ʿad ăšer lōʾ nimṣāʾ šām} ‘until there is not found there’—define both the extent and the absolute result of the action, with gam {גַּם | gam} ‘even/also’ intensifying the final tseʾôr {צְרוֹר | tseʾôr} ‘pebble’. The discourse moves from a conditional statement to collective execution and climaxes in a statement of total devastation, which English renders as a clear cause-and-effect progression. |