| 25. Linguistic Exegesis The verse uses two sequential wayyiqtol verbs, vayered {וַיֵּ֥רֶד | way-yê-reḏ} ‘and he went down’ and vayomer {וַיֹּ֖אמֶר | way-yō-mer} ‘and he said’. The first verb precedes its subject Mosheh {מֹשֶׁ֖ה | mō-šeh} in VSO order, followed by the directional phrase el-haam {אֶל־הָעָ֑ם | ʾel-hā-ʿām} ‘to the people’. The second wayyiqtol retains the implied subject and introduces its indirect object alehem {אֲלֵהֶֽם | ʾă-lê-hem} ‘to them’. Hebrew links consecutive actions under one subject; English renders them as a single SVO sentence to preserve narrative flow. |