| 15. Linguistic Exegesis The verse unfolds as a cascade of vav-consecutive clauses marking divine action. Vav-consecutive plus Qal imperfect appears in vayishlach {וַיִּשְׁלַ֥ח | vă-yish-lāḥ} ‘and He sent’, while Hiphil imperfect with vav-consecutive and pronominal suffixes occurs in vayepitzem {וַיְפִיצֵ֑ם | vă-yĕ-pî-ṣêm} ‘and He scattered them’ and veyhamem {ויהמם | vĕ-yă-hăm-mem} ‘and He dismayed them’, concluding with Hiphil imperfect in vayyahom {وַיָּהֹֽם | vă-yā-hôm} ‘and He confused them’. The nouns chitzim {חִצִּים | ḥiṣ-ṣîm} ‘arrows’ and barak {בָּרָ֖ק | bā-rāq} ‘lightning’ function as direct objects and instruments of divine judgment. The sequence of vav-consecutive verbs builds intensity and emphasizes Yahweh’s active agency. English renders the verb-initial Hebrew into subject–verb–object order, linking the vivid martial actions with a semicolon to preserve narrative force. |