| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the relative participle has-sholeach {הַשֹּׁלֵחַ | haš-šō-lē-aḥ} ‘sending’, which heads a relative clause modifying the land motif in verse 1. It is followed by circumstantial phrases ba-yam {בַּיָּם | ba-yām} ‘by the sea’ and u-bikhlei-gome {וּבִכְלֵי־גֹמֶא | ū-viḵ-lê gō-mēʾ} ‘in papyrus vessels’, indicating means and location. The imperative sequence lechu malachim kalim {לְכוּ מַלְאָכִים קַלִּים | lə-kû mal-ʾā-kîm qal-lîm} ‘Go, swift messengers’ issues the summons. Participial modifiers memushakh {מְמֻשָּׁךְ | mə-muš-šā-ḥ} ‘spread thinly’ and u-morat {וּמוֹרָט | ū-mō-rāṭ} ‘peeled’ describe the target nation, followed by the adjective nora {נוֹרָא | nôr-āʾ} ‘awesome’. The coordinated phrase goy kav-kav u-mevusah {גּוֹי קַו־קָו וּמְבוּסָה | gōy qa-v-qa-v ū-mə-vū-sāh} ‘a nation line by line and trampled’ uses reduplication for emphasis and a Pual participle to express subjugation. Finally, the relative clause asher-baz’u neharim artzo {אֲשֶׁר־בָּזְא֥וּ נְהָרִים אַרְצֽוֹ | ʾă-šer bā-zə-ʾû nə-hā-rîm ʾar-ṣōʾ} ‘whose land the rivers divide’ reflects the geographical function of rivers as dividers rather than agents of plunder. |