| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive vehayah {וְהָיָה | wə-hā-yāh} ‘and it will be’, marking two parallel comparative clauses introduced by the particles ke in ke’esof {כֶּאֱסֹף | kə-’ĕ-sōp} ‘as gathering’ and kî in kimlaket {כִּמְלַקֵּט | kî-mə-lak-kêt} ‘as one gathering’. In the first simile, the noun phrase katzir qamah {קָצִיר קָמָה | qā-ṣîr qā-māh} ‘standing harvest’ leads into the verb yiktzor {יִקְצֹר | yiq-ṣōr} ‘he reaps’, with the construct chain uzro’o shibbolim {וּזְרֹעוֹ שִׁבֹּלִים | wə-zə-rō-’ō šib-bō-lîm} ‘with his arm ears of grain’ specifying instrument and object. The second clause mirrors this pattern, substituting the participle kimlaket for the infinitive. The concluding prepositional phrase b’ēmek r’fa’im {בְּעֵמֶק רְפָאִים | bə-’ê-mek rə-pā-’îm} ‘in the valley of Rephaim’ grounds the imagery geographically. This syntactic parallelism emphasizes the desolation and gleaning envisioned in the prophecy. |