| 1. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the wayyiqtol marker vayhi {וַיְהִי | wa-yə-hî} ‘and it happened,’ indicating the start of a narrative sequence. The dating formula ba-shanah hashvi’it {בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִית | ba-šā-nāh ha-šə-ḇî‘îṯ} ‘in the seventh year’ is followed by two temporal specifications: ba-chamishi la-chodesh {בַּחֲמִשִּׁי לַחֹדֶשׁ | ba-ḥa-mi-šî la-ḥō-désh} ‘in the fifth month’ and ba-asarah la-chodesh {בַּעֲשָׂרָה לַחֹדֶשׁ | ba-ʿă-sā-rāh la-ḥō-désh} ‘on the tenth of the month,’ which precisely locate the event. The subject phrase anashim mi-ziknei yisra’el {אֲנָשִׁים מִזִּקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל | ʾă-nā-šîm miz-zik-nê yis-rā-ʾēl} ‘men from the elders of Israel’ introduces an infinitive of purpose li-drosh {לִדְרֹשׁ | li-droš} ‘to inquire,’ with the direct object marker et {אֶת־ | ʾet} marking yehovah {יְהוָה | Yə-hō-wāh} ‘the LORD’ as the focus. The verse concludes with vayeshvu lefanai {וַיֵּשְׁבוּ לְפָנַי | wa-yē-šə-ḇû lə-fā-nāy} ‘and they sat before me,’ a Hebrew idiom denoting audience with the prophetic presence. This rendering preserves the Hebrew wayyiqtol structure while ordering temporal and purpose clauses for clarity. |