| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive vaʾeʿevor {וָאֶעֱבֹ֨ר | wā-ʾe-ʿĕ-ḇōr} ‘and I passed by’, establishing divine movement. A matching vaʾerʾekh {וָאֶרְאֵ֗ךְ | wā-ʾer-ʾêkh} ‘and I saw you’ maintains the first-person narrator. The interjection wehinneh {וְהִנֵּ֤ה | wə-hin-nēh} ‘and behold’ introduces the evaluation clause ittekh ʿet dodim {עִתֵּךְ עֵת דֹּדִים | ʿit-tēkh ʿēt dō-dîm} ‘your time {was} a time of love’. The Qal verbs vaʾefrosh kenafi {וָאֶפְרֹ֤שׂ כְּנָפִי֙} ‘and I spread my wing’ and vaʾăkasseh ervatek {וָאֲכַסֶּ֖ה עֶרְוָתֵ֑ךְ} ‘and I covered your nakedness’ form an inclusion highlighting protection. The sequence vaʾeshavaʿ vaʾavo bi-bivrit otakh ‘and I swore and I entered into covenant with you’ marks legal commitment, followed by the declaration neʾum Adonai Yahweh and the consummation vatihiyyî li ‘and you became mine’. English order preserves Hebrew temporal structure and metaphorical imagery. |