| 22. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the negative particle lo {לֹא | lō} ‘not’ directly before the Qal imperfect yamish {יָמִישׁ | yā-mîš} ‘depart’, highlighting the uninterrupted presence of the guiding signs. The construct phrase amud he-anan {עַמּוּד הֶעָנָן | ʿam-mûd he-ʾā-nān} ‘pillar of cloud’ and its parallel we-amud ha-esh {וְעַמּוּד הָאֵשׁ | wə-ʿam-mûd hā-ʾēš} ‘and pillar of fire’ form synonymous parallelism. The temporal adverbials yomam {יוֹמָם | yō-mām} ‘by day’ and layelah {לָיְלָה | lā-ylā} ‘by night’ bracket the narrative, while the prepositional phrase lifnei ha-am {לִפְנֵי הָעָם | li-phnê hā-ʿām} ‘before the people’ emphasizes the spatial orientation of divine guidance. |