| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with a tricolon of perfect verbs—noalu {נֽוֹאֲלוּ | nō’ălû} ‘have acted foolishly’, nish’u {נִשְּׁאוּ | niš·ʾû} ‘have been lifted up’, and hitu {הִתְע֥וּ | hiṯ·ʿû} ‘have led astray’—each denoting a completed action that underscores the comprehensive failure of Egypt’s leadership. Each verb governs a subject sarei {שָׂרֵי | sārê} ‘princes’ in construct with the place names tsoan {צֹעַן | ṣōʿān} and nof {נֹף | nōf}, creating parallelism that highlights regional decline. The construct et־mitzrayim {אֶת־מִצְרַיִם | ʾet-miṣrāyim} introduces Egypt as the direct object of deception. Finally, the construct phrase pinnat shevateha {פִּנַּת שְׁבָטֶיהָ | pinnat-šəḇāṭêhā} ‘corner of her tribes’ functions as a metaphorical merism for the nation’s foundational leaders, who instead precipitate its undoing. |