בֵּ֖ין

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 בֵּ֖ין

   BEN

   between
2. clause🔊 וְהִנֵּ֨ה תַנּ֤וּר עָשָׁן֙ וְלַפִּ֣יד אֵ֔שׁ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָבַ֔ר בֵּ֖ין הַגְּזָרִ֥ים הָאֵֽלֶּה׃

   ve-hin-NEH tan-NUR a-SHAN ve-lap-PID ESH a-SHER a-VAR BEN hag-ge-za-RIM ha-EL-leh

   and behold smoke a furnace of fire and a torch of that passed between pieces these
3. sentence🔊 וַיְהִ֤י הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ בָּ֔אָה וַעֲלָטָ֖ה הָיָ֑ה וְהִנֵּ֨ה תַנּ֤וּר עָשָׁן֙ וְלַפִּ֣יד אֵ֔שׁ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָבַ֔ר בֵּ֖ין הַגְּזָרִ֥ים הָאֵֽלֶּה׃

   va-ye-HI hash-SHE-mesh BA-a va-a-la-TA ha-YA ve-hin-NEH tan-NUR a-SHAN ve-lap-PID ESH a-SHER a-VAR BEN hag-ge-za-RIM ha-EL-leh

   the sun {And} it happened had gone down and deep darkness was and behold smoke a furnace of fire and a torch of that passed between pieces these

Exegesis

The prepositional phrase bein hagezarim ha'eleh {בֵּין הַגְּזָרִים הָאֵלֶּה | bēn hag·gə·zā·rîm hā·ʾēl·leh} ‘between these pieces’ is placed at the end, giving climactic emphasis to the ritual space formed by the cut pieces from the prior context. In translation, the temporal clauses are rendered as “when the sun had gone down and darkness was” (formal) and “As the sun set and darkness settled” (dynamic), preserving the sequence while smoothing English style. The interjection vehineh is reflected as “behold” in the formal rendering and as “suddenly” in the dynamic version, both capturing its function of drawing attention to the extraordinary sight.