| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the vav consecutive Qal imperfect veyatseq’u {וְיָצְאוּ | wə-yaṣ-’û} ‘and they shall go out’ followed by the coordinated construct subjects zekenekha {זְקֵנֶיךָ | zə-ḳē-nê-khā} ‘your elders’ and veshoftekha {וְשֹׁפְטֶיךָ | wə-šō-p̄ê-ṯê-khā} ‘your judges’, indicating communal leadership action. The subsequent vav consecutive verb umadedu {וּמָדְדוּ | u-mā-ḏĕ-ḏû} ‘and they shall measure’ introduces the procedural directive. The prepositional phrase el he’arim {אֶל־הֶעָרִים | ʾel-he-‘ā-rîm} ‘to the cities’ enters a construct chain with asher {אֲשֶׁר | ’ă-šer} ‘which’ modifying sevivot {סְבִיבֹת | sə-vî-vôṯ} ‘surrounding’, relating spatially to hechalal {הֶחָלָל | he-ḥā-lāl} ‘the slain’ in a relative clause. The Hebrew verbal sequencing and construct chains are rendered by preserving the sequential directives and relative clause structure in English to maintain the legal and investigative emphasis. |