| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the Hifil imperfect hayipale {הֲיִפָּלֵא | hă-yip-pā-lēʾ} ‘will it be too extraordinary’, functioning as a rhetorical question that emphasizes divine omnipotence. The prepositional phrase me-Yahweh {מֵיְהוָה | mê-Yahweh} ‘from the LORD’ attaches to davar {דָּבָר | dā-ḇār} ‘matter’, yielding “any matter originating with the LORD.” This stands as an independent interrogative clause. The following sequence begins with lamoed {לַמּוֹעֵד | lam-mô-ʿēḏ} ‘at the appointed time’, introducing a future temporal clause, followed by ashuv {אָשׁוּב | ʾā-šûḇ} ‘I will return’ and the indirect object eilekha {אֵלֶיךָ | ʾê-le-ḵā} ‘to you’. The idiom ka-et chayah {כָּעֵת חַיָּה | kā-ʿēṯ ḥay-yāh} ‘in the season of life’ specifies the timing for birth, contextually understood as a full year later. The final clause u-le-Sarah ben {וּלְשָׂרָה בֵן | û-lə-śā-rāh bēn} designates Sarah as the recipient and ben as the thematic focus, highlighting the promised heir. English rendering preserves the rhetorical question and sequential temporal progression, reflecting the Hebrew discourse structure. |