| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with vayomar {וַיֹּאמַר | way-yō-mar} ‘and he said’, a vav consecutive form that continues the preceding narrative and signals Abram’s immediate verbal response to the divine promise. The compound title Adonai Yahweh {אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה | ʾă-ḏō-nāy yĕ-hō-wih} functions as a vocative, foregrounding both God’s sovereign mastery and His covenant identity at the very moment Abram seeks assurance. The interrogative expression bamah {בַּמָּה | bam-māh} ‘by what’ uses the preposition beth to specify means or instrument, so the question is not about whether the promise is true but about the confirming means by which Abram will gain experiential certainty. The verb eda {אֵדַע | ʾē-ḏaʿ} ‘shall I know’ is a Qal imperfect first person form that looks to future, personal knowledge, introducing the content clause marked by ki {כִּי | kî} ‘that’. This ki-clause, “that I will inherit it,” functions as the object of Abram’s knowing. The verb irashennah {אֽ͏ִירָשֶֽׁנָּה | ʾî-rā-šə-nnāh} ‘I shall inherit it’ includes a paragogic nun, often conveying emphasis or emotional intensity, and a third person feminine singular suffix that refers back to the promised land understood as grammatically feminine. Syntactically, the verse presents a direct address followed by an interrogative main clause plus a subordinate ki-clause, allowing the translation to preserve the question form while clarifying that Abram is asking for a sign or confirmation, not doubting the identity of the One addressed. |