| 29. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with a coordinated list introduced by ve- “and” attaching udavash {וּדְבַשׁ | u·davāš} ‘honey’, vechemah {וְחֶמְאָה | wə·ḥemʾāh} ‘curds’, vetsoʾn {וְצֹאן | wə·ṣōˈn} ‘sheep’, ʾušfəwṯ {וּשְׁפֹות | u·šə·p̄ōṯ} ‘cheeses’, and bāqār {בָּקָר | bā·qār} ‘cattle’ before the hiphil verb higgîšû {הִגִּישׁוּ | hig·gî·šû} ‘they brought’. Recipients are marked by lᵉdāwīḏ {לְדָוִד | lə·dā·wîḏ} and wǝlāʿām {וְלָעָם | wə·lā·ʿām}, with a restrictive clause ašer ʾittô {אֲשֶׁר־אִתּוֹ | ā·šer ʾit·tô} limiting “the people” to David’s companions. The infinitive lᵉʾēkōl {לֶאֱכֹל | lᵉ·ʾē·kōl} indicates purpose “to eat.” The causal conjunction kî {כִּי | kî} introduces indirect speech with ʾāmrû {אָמְרוּ | ʾa·mrû} “they said,” followed by a triad hāʿām rāʿēḇ {הָעָם רָעֵב | hā·ʿām rā·ʿēḇ} ‘the people are hungry’, wə·ʿāyēp̄ {וְעָיֵף | wə·ʿā·yēp̄} ‘weary’, wə·ṣāmēʾ {וְצָמֵא | wə·ṣā·mēʾ} ‘thirsty’, set bammidbār {בַּמִּדְבָּר | bam·mid·bār} ‘in the wilderness’. The stacking of adjectives emphasizes communal distress in a harsh setting, and English renders the object list before the verb for clarity while preserving the relative clause and triadic structure. |