| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative verb vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | way-yō-mer} begins with a vav-consecutive, advancing the account. Hamelekh {הַמֶּלֶךְ | ham-me-lekh} functions as subject. A prepositional phrase le-ashpenaz {לְאַשְׁפְּנַז | lə-ʾash-pə-naz} 'to Ashpenaz' identifies the addressee. The construct rav sarisav {רַב סָרִיסָיו | rav sa-rî-sāv} 'chief of his eunuchs' defines his role. The purpose Hiphil infinitive lehavi {לְהָבִ֞יא | lə-hā-ḇîʾ} 'to bring' introduces the command. Three sequential prepositional phrases—mibnei Yisrael {מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל | mib-bə-nê yis-ra-ʾel} 'from the sons of Israel', u-mizera hamelukhah {וּמִזֶּרַע הַמְּלוּכָה | û-miz-ze-raʿ ham-mə-lu-khāh} 'and from the royal seed', u-min hapartemim {וּמִן־הַפַּרְתְּמִים | û-min hap-par-te-mîm} 'and from the nobles'—specify the groups. The Hebrew sequence of noun phrases is rendered in English as a clear list to preserve hierarchy and scope. |