| 19. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the narrative vav consecutive forms vayevarkhehu {וַיְבָרְכֵהוּ | wayə-ḇā-rə-ḵê-hû} ‘and he blessed him’ followed by vayomar {וַיֹּאמַר | way-yō-mar} ‘and he said’, typical of Hebrew storytelling. The blessing declaration opens with the predicate participle barukh {בָּרוּךְ | bā-rûḵ} ‘blessed’, creating emphasis by fronting the participle. The beneficiary is Avram {אַבְרָם | ʾaḇ-rām} and the divine agent is marked by the prepositional phrase le'El Elyon {לְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן | lə-ʾēl ʿel-yōn} ‘by God Most High’, where Elyon serves as a divine title modifying El. The participle koneh {קֹנֵה | qō-nê} ‘possessor’ attributes ongoing ownership to the meristic pair shamayim va'arets {שָׁמַיִם וָאָֽרֶץ | šā-ma-yim wā-ʾā-reṣ} ‘heaven and earth’, denoting cosmic fullness. In English, the rendering smooths Hebrew word order while maintaining the focus on blessing and divine sovereignty through carefully chosen participial and possessive expressions. |