| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the vav-consecutive verb venishtu {וְנִשְּׁתוּ | wə-nis-šə-tū} ‘and will be dried up’, which initiates a prophetic series. The noun mayim {מַיִם | ma-yim} ‘waters’ follows to highlight what is affected, connected by mehayam {מֵהַיָּם | mē-hay-yām} ‘from the sea’. The conjunction vav-attached nahar {וְנָהָר | wə-nā-hār} ‘the river’ continues the chain. The verb yecherav {יֶחֱרַב | ye-ḥə-rāḇ} ‘will become parched’ and the subsequent vav-consecutive veyavesh {וְיָבֵשׁ | wə-yā-ḇēš} ‘and will dry up’ form a climax through parallelism, intensifying the depiction of complete desolation. |