| 22. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs the vav-consecutive imperfect vayavo’u {וַיָּבֹאוּ | va-ya-vo-’u} ‘and they came’ to present completed action. The construct phrase benei yisra’el {בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל | bᵉ-nē yi-sᵉ-rā-’ēl} ‘sons of Israel’ designates the collective subject. Betoḥ hayam {בְּתוֹךְ הַיָּם | bə-ṭō-ḥ ha-yām} ‘in the midst of the sea’ establishes spatial centrality, while ba-yabbāšāh {בַּיַּבָּשָׁה | ba-yab-bā-šāh} ‘on the dry ground’ highlights the miraculous path. Vehammayyim lāhem choma {וְהַמַּיִם לָהֶם חֹמָה | wᵉ-ha-may-yim lā-hem ḥō-māh} ‘and the waters for them {were} a wall’ uses lāhem to denote divine protection. The directional pairs miyyeminām and u-missmō’ēlām {מִימִינָם וּמִשְּׂמֹאלָם | mi-yē-mi-nām u-mi-sᵉ-mō-’ā-lām} reinforce total enclosure, emphasizing God’s safeguarding. The English rendering mirrors Hebrew word order to preserve narrative intensity and theological emphasis. |