| 23. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with bayom hahu {בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא | bā-yôm hā-hûʾ} ‘on that day,’ pairing the preposition b- with the emphatic demonstrative for precise temporality. The imperfect tihyeh {תִּהְיֶ֨ה | ti-hyeh} functions existentially to predicate the subject mesillah {מְסִלָּ֤ה | mesillā} ‘highway.’ The directional phrase mimitsrayim ashurah {מִמִּצְרַיִם אַשּׁ֔וּרָה | min-miṣrayîm ʾaššûrâ} specifies origin and destination. Sequential vav-consecutive perfect forms ū-vāʾ {וּבָֽא | ū-vāʾ} ‘and came’ and wə-ʿāḇdû {וְעָבְד֥וּ | wə-ʿāḇdû} ‘and served’ depict the unfolding vision. The chiastic structure ashur be-mitsrayim u-mitsrayim be-ashur ‘Assyria in Egypt and Egypt in Assyria’ uses parallelism to underscore mutual movement. The object marker et {אֶת־ | ʾet} before ʾaššûr marks Assyria as the focus of service, reinforcing a vision of shared worship. |