| 29. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with vayehi {וַיְהִ֗י | way-hî} ‘and it happened’, a narrative marker that introduces a temporal clause through the prepositional infinitive beshachet {בְּשַׁחֵ֤ת | bə-ša-ḥêt} ‘when destroying’. The construct chain arei hakkikar {עָרֵי הַכִּכָּר | ʿā-rê hak-kik-kār} ‘cities of the plain’ sets the scene of divine judgment. The wayyiqtol form vayizkor {וַיִּזְכֹּר֥ | way-yiz-kōr} ‘and God remembered’ shifts the focus to covenant action, leading to vayeshalach {וַיְשַׁלַּח֙ | way-ša-l-laḥ} ‘and He sent out’, which signals deliverance. The phrases mitokh hahafekhah {מִתּ֣וֹךְ הַהֲפֵכָ֔ה | mit-tôḵ ha-ha-pê-kāh} ‘from the midst of the overthrow’ and bahafokh et-hearim {בַּהֲפֹךְ֙ אֶת־הֶעָרִ֔ים | ba-ha-pōḵ ʾeṯ-he-ʿā-rîm} ‘when overturning the cities’ frame Lot’s rescue within the larger act of destruction. Finally, the relative clause asher yashav bahem Lot {אֲשֶׁר־יָשַׁב בָּהֵ֖ן לוֹט | ʾă-šer yā-šaḇ bā-hēn lōṭ} ‘in which Lot had dwelt’ reconnects deliverance to his former dwelling, emphasizing personal salvation amid judgment. |