| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with bayom hahu {בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא | bā-yōm ha-hū} ‘in that day,’ a standard prophetic temporal marker introducing future judgment. The verb yihyeh {יִֽהְיֶה | yiḥyēh} ‘will be’ predicates the state of mitsrayim {מִצְרַיִם | miṣrāyim} ‘Egypt,’ immediately qualified by the simile kanashim {כַּנָּשִׁים | ka-nāšîm} ‘like women,’ emphasizing national vulnerability. The coordinated perfects ve-harad u-fakhad {וְחָרַד וּפָחַד | ve-ḥārad u-p̄āḥaḏ} ‘and it trembled and feared’ heighten the emotional impact. The prepositional phrase min-pnei tenupat yad-Yahweh tsevaot {מִפְּנֵי תְּנוּפַת יָד־יְהוָה צְבָא֔וֹת | min-pnê te-nūp̄āṯ yāḏ-Yəhōwāh ṣəvāʼōṯ} ‘from before the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts’ assigns divine military agency as the cause of fear. The relative clause asher-hu menif alav {אֲשֶׁר־ה֖וּא מֵנִ֥יף עָלָֽיו | ʼăšer-hū mēnīp̄ ʿālāw} ‘which He raises over it’ uses the Hifil participle menif to indicate ongoing action. The Hebrew VSO order is rendered in English SVO to improve readability, consolidating the prophetic warning and causal gesture into a coherent flow. The juxtaposition of simile and divine motion underscores Egypt’s helplessness. |