| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with a temporal phrase uvearba esre shanah {וּבְאַרְבַּע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה | û-ḇə-ʾar-baʿ ʿeś-rê šā-nāh} “and in the fourteenth year,” which situates the campaign within a larger chronological framework and connects it to the previous rebellion. The main verbal clause begins with the verb ba {בָּא | bāʾ} “came,” followed by the subject Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him {כְדָרְלָעֹמֶר וְהַמְּלָכִים אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ | ḵə-dor-la-ʿō-mer wə-ham-mə-lā-ḵîm ʾă-šer ʾit-tô}, giving Kedorlaomer prominence as leader while including his coalition through the relative clause asher itto “who were with him.” The narrative then shifts to a second finite verb vayyaku {וַיַּכּוּ | way-yak-kû} “and they struck,” whose plural morphology matches the combined subject and introduces a list of military targets. Each object is signaled by the direct object marker et {אֶת | ʾeṯ} or ve’et {וְאֶת / וְאֵת | wə-ʾeṯ / wə-ʾēt}, followed by the name of a people group (Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim) and its corresponding location, each governed by the preposition be- {בְּ | bə-} “in.” The dual forms Karnaim {קַרְנַיִם | qar-na-yim} and Kiryatayim {קִרְיָתָיִם | qir-yā-ṯā-yim} reflect place names associated with “two horns/peaks” and “two towns,” likely evoking notable geographical or urban features. Syntactically, the verse is a single extended clause sequence, chaining together time setting, movement, and successive conquests, which the English renderings preserve by maintaining the initial temporal phrase, the verb-first main clause, and the coordinated series of objects and locations. |