| 23. Linguistic Exegesis The verse consists of two coordinated clauses. The first clause, hashemesh yatsa al-haarets {הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ יָצָא עַל־הָאָרֶץ | haš-šemeš yā-ṣāʾ ʿal hā-ʾā-reṣ}, sets the temporal scene with a definite subject, a perfect verb indicating completed action, and a location phrase. The second clause, veLot ba tsoarah {וְלֹט בָּא צֹעֲרָה | wə-lōṭ bāʾ ṣō-ʿă-rāh}, introduces Lot’s arrival as a concurrent event. The Hebrew perfect verbs’ sequence without explicit temporal markers implies near-simultaneity. The formal English mirrors this by using past perfect then simple past, while the dynamic uses a temporal subordinating phrase (“After…”) and simple past to convey the sequence clearly for modern readers. |