| 15. Linguistic Exegesis The wayyiqtol vayikhlu {וַיִּכְל֥וּ | wā-yik-lû} begins the verse, linking this completed action to the preceding events and marking the exhaustion of the supply. Hamayim {הַמַּ֖יִם | ham-mayim} follows as the subject in a verb–subject order, and the prepositional phrase min-hachemet {מִן־הַחֵ֑מֶת | min ha-ḥē-met} “from the skin” specifies the leather vessel as the source. The second clause, vatashelekh {וַתַּשְׁלֵ֣ךְ | wā-taš-lē-ḵ} “and she cast,” uses another wayyiqtol, signaling a consequential action by Hagar (understood from context). The particle et {אֶת־ | ʾeṯ} introduces the direct object hayeled {הַיֶּ֔לֶד | ha-ye-led} “the boy,” emphasizing his significance. The phrase takhat akhad hassikhim {תַּ֖חַת אַחַ֥ד הַשִּׂיחִֽם | ta-ḥat a-ḥad ha-si-khim} “under one of the bushes” situates the boy beneath a particular shrub, and is rendered in English as a spatial clause to preserve narrative immediacy and the emotional intensity of Hagar’s dire choice. |