| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive ve’ashivah {וְאָשִׁ֥יבָה | wə-ʾā-šî-ḇāh} ‘and I will bring back’, employing the hiphil stem for causative action. The direct object kol ha’am {כָל־הָעָם | kol hā-‘ām} ‘all the people’ is followed by the directional prepositional phrase eilekha {אֵלֶיךָ | ʾê-lê-ḵā} ‘to you’. The phrase kešuv hakol {כְּשׁוּב הַכֹּל | kə-šūḇ hā-kōl} functions as a conditional temporal clause (‘when all returns’), introduced by ke-‘as/when’. The relative clause ha’ish asher attah mevaqqesh {הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה מְבַקֵּשׁ | hā-’îš ʾă-šer ʾat-tāh mə-vaq-qêš} ‘the man whom you seek’ specifies the pivotal individual. The result clause kol ha’am yihyeh shalom {כָל־הָעָם יִהְיֶה שָׁלוֹם | kol hā-‘ām yiḥ-yêh šā-lôm} ‘all the people will be at peace’ uses the qal imperfect yihyeh to mark the outcome, with shalom conveying comprehensive well-being. The V–O–S base order and the embedded conditional highlight that communal peace is contingent upon the return of the specified individual. |