| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the prefixed wayyiqtol form vayyabo {וַיָּבֹא | way-yā-ḇōʾ} ‘and he came’ advancing the narrative. The subject is then specified as Yitro {יִתְרוֹ | yiṯ-rō} ‘Jethro’ with the appositional title khotēn {חֹתֵן | ḥō-tēn} ‘father-in-law’ of moshe {מֹשֶׁה | mō-šeh} ‘Moses’. The coordinated phrase ûvanav veishto {וּבָנָיו וְאִשְׁתּוֹ | û-ḇānāw wə-ʾištô} ‘and his sons and his wife’ identifies the accompanying family. The repeated prepositional structure ʾel moshe, ʾel hammidbār {אֶל־מֹשֶׁה, אֶל־הַמִּדְבָּר | ʾel-mō-šeh, ʾel-ham-mîdbār} ‘to Moses, to the wilderness’ narrows focus from person to place. The relative clause introduced by ʾašer-hûʾ {אֲשֶׁר־הוּא | ʾăšer-hûʾ} ‘where he’ governs the participle kho-neh {חֹנֶה | ḥō-neh} ‘is encamping’, reinforced by the locative adverb šām {שָׁם | šām} ‘there’. The verse closes with the appositional phrase har hāʾĕlōhîm {הַר הָאֱלֹהִים | har hā-ʾĕlōhîm} ‘the mountain of God’, highlighting the sacred site of divine presence. |