| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the wayyiqtol chain vayotse {וַיּוֹצֵא | way-yô-ṣēʾ} ‘and he brought out’, followed by vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | way-yō-mer} ‘and he said’, marking sequential narrative actions typical of Hebrew storytelling. The first clause, vayotse oto hachutsah {וַיּוֹצֵא אֹתוֹ הַח֗וּצָה | way-yô-ṣēʾ ʾō-tô ha-ḥū-ṣāh} ‘and he brought him outside’, shifts the scene from an inner setting to the open space, preparing for a visual sign. Direct speech then begins with the Hiphil imperative plus entreaty particle, habet-na {הַבֶּט־נָא | hab-bet-nāʾ} ‘look now’, which combines authoritative command with gentle urging. The directional form hashamaymah {הַשָּׁמַיְמָה | haš-šā-ma-y-māh} ‘toward the heavens’ guides Abram’s gaze upward, creating both spatial and theological elevation. The second imperative usefor {וּסְפֹר | us-pōr} ‘and count’ is coordinated with hakochavim {הַכּוֹכָבִים | hak-kô-kā-vîm} ‘the stars’, and is immediately qualified by the conditional clause im-tukhal lispor otam {אִם־תּוּכַל לִסְפֹּר אֹתָם | ʾim-tû-kal lis-pōr ʾō-tām} ‘if you are able to count them’, forming a condition that is practically impossible to fulfill. This structure heightens the contrast between human limitation and divine promise. A second vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | way-yō-mer} introduces the climactic interpretive statement koh yihyeh zarʿekha {כֹּה יִהְיֶה זַרְעֶךָ | kōh yih-yeh zar-ʿe-kā} ‘so will your offspring be’, where the adverb koh links the visible stars to the future multitude of descendants. The imperfect yihyeh projects this comparison into the future, grounding Abram’s faith in a vivid, experiential sign that the translation preserves through clear sequencing, maintained imperatives, and an explicit conditional clause. |