| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with the wayyiqtol verb vayitsma {וַיִּצְמָ֨א | wayyits-māʾ} ‘became thirsty’, creating a sense of unfolding crisis. The adverb sham {שָׁם | šām} sets the location, and the collective subject haam {הָעָם | hā-ʿām} appears with both vayitsma and the successive wayyiqtol vayalen {וַיָּלֶן | wayyā-len} ‘complained’, emphasizing their communal response. The prepositional phrase lamayim {לַמַּיִם | la-mā-yim} ‘for water’ specifies their urgent need. With the third wayyiqtol vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | way-yō-mer} ‘said’, direct speech is introduced by the interrogative lamah zeh {לָמָּה זֶה | lā-māh zeh} ‘why this’. The Hiphil perfect he’elitanu {הֶעֱלִיתָנוּ | he-ʿĕ-lî-tā-nû} ‘you brought us up’ assigns deliberate agency, while the infinitive construct lehamit {לְהָמִ֥ית | lə-hā-mit} ‘to put to death’ expresses the lethal outcome attributed. The object series oti, et-banai, et-miknai {אֹתִי וְאֶת־בָּנַי וְאֶת־מִקְנַי | ʾō-tî wə-ʾet-bā-nāy wə-ʾet-miḵ-nāy} builds climactically from individual to family to livestock. The final prepositional phrase ba-tsama {בַּצָּמָא | ba-ṣā-māʾ} ‘with thirst’ underscores the physical threat. English renders the wayyiqtol verbs as past tense for narrative flow and preserves the interrogative structure to convey urgency and reproach. |