| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with u-le-Yishmael {וּלְיִשְׁמָעֵאל | û-lə-yiš-mā-ʿēl} as a topical phrase marking a contrastive shift in the covenant narrative. The clause sham‘atikha {שְׁמַעְתִּיךָ | šə-ma-ʿtî-ḵā} uses the Qal perfect to express a completed divine response to Abraham’s plea. Hinneh {הִנֵּה | hin-nēh} introduces and emphasizes the divine declaration that follows. A sequence of first person perfect forms—berakhti {בֵּרַכְתִּי | bē-ra-ḵtî}, ve-hifreiti {וְהִפְרֵיתִ֥י | wə-hip-rê-ṯî}, and ve-hirbeiti {וְהִרְבֵּיתִ֥י | wə-hir-bē-ṯî}—express divine blessings, with the latter two carrying future promise meaning. The adverbial bi-me’od me’od {בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד | bi-me-ʾōḏ mə-ʾōḏ} intensifies the promise of multiplication. The Hifil imperfect yolid {יוֹלִיד | yō-lîḏ} “he will beget” with its object shneim-‘asar nesi’im {שְׁנֵים־עָשָׂר נְשִׂיאִם | šə-nêym-ʿā-śār nə-śî-ʾîm} “twelve rulers” denotes structured leadership. The final Qal perfect u-netativ {וּנְתַתִּיו | u-nə-tat-tîw} with le-goy gadol {לְגוי גָּדוֹל | lə-gôy gā-dōl} conveys the assured result of a great nation. English renders these aspectual nuances by combining present perfect and future tense to reflect completed blessing and guaranteed fulfillment. |