| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the narrative vav consecutive on the qal imperfect verb vayya‘ăbôr {וַיַּעֲבֹר | vay-ya-ʿă-bôr} ‘and he passed through,’ signaling sequential action. This is followed by the prepositional construct chain bekol šivtei Yiśrāʼêl {בְּכָל־שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל | bə-kāl šiv-ṯê yiś-rā-ˀêl} ‘through all the tribes of Israel,’ conveying scope. The coordinated destinations ʼevelāh ū-Bêṯ Maʿăḵāh {אֶבֶלָה וּבֵית מַעֲכָה | ʼe-vel-ā ū-bêt ma-ʿă-kāh} specify endpoints. In the second clause the vav consecutive governs the niphal imperfect vayyiqhalûhû {וַיִּקְהֲלוּהוּ | vay-yi-qah-ha-lû-hû} ‘and they were gathered to him,’ followed by the qal imperfect vayyāvōʼû {וַיָּבֹאוּ | vay-yā-ḇō-ʼû} ‘and they came.’ The particle ʼāp plus the pronominal suffix in ʼăḥărāyû {אַף־אַחֲרָיו | ʼāp-ʼă-ḥă-rā-yû} marks emphatic pursuit ‘also after him.’ The series of vav consecutives and imperfect verbs expresses a stepwise mobilization and movement, reflected in English by coordinated past-tense clauses. |