| 27. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with vayeshallach {וַיְשַׁלַּח | wayšallaḥ} ‘and he sent away,’ a Piel wayyiqtol verb that continues the narrative and signals Moses’ action toward his father-in-law. The verb precedes the proper noun mosheh {מֹשֶׁה | mōšeh} in V–S order, identifying Moses as agent. The particle et {אֶת | ʾeṯ} marks khotno {חֹתְנוֹ | ḥōṯənô} ‘his father-in-law’ as a definite direct object, emphasizing the familial bond. In the second clause, vayelekh {וַיֵּלֶךְ | wayyēleḵ} ‘and he went’ shifts the subject to the father-in-law by context. The prepositional lo {לוֹ | lô} functions as a dative of interest, and el artso {אֶל־אַרְצוֹ | ʾel-ʾarṣô} ‘to his land’ indicates the destination. The idiom vayelekh lo el artso thus conveys going back, rendered as ‘he went back to his own land.’ English S–V–O order improves clarity while preserving the sense of return. |