| 29. Linguistic Exegesis The clause opens with a temporal prepositional phrase, liqtsat {לִקְצָ֥ת | liqṣāṯ} ‘at the end of’, which frames the narrative as the completion of a set waiting period. The following noun phrase yarchin tre-asar {יַרְחִ֖ין תְּרֵי־עֲשַׂ֑ר | yarḥîn tərē-ʿăśar} ‘twelve months’ supplies the measured interval. The location is expressed by al-heykhal {עַל־הֵיכַ֗ל | ʿal-hêḵal} ‘on/upon the palace’, a spatial phrase that naturally points to being on top of the structure. The noun malkhuta {מַלְכוּתָ֙א | malkûṯā} ‘the kingdom’ is specified by the linker di {דִּ֣י | dî} ‘of/which’, yielding the genitival relationship ‘the kingdom of Babylon.’ The action is presented with a periphrastic verbal construction: the participle mehallekh {מְהַלֵּ֥ךְ | məhalleḵ} ‘walking about’ plus the auxiliary hawa {הֲוָ֖ה | hăwā} ‘he was’, which together convey an ongoing past situation (past progressive), highlighting continuous movement at the very moment the waiting period ends. |