| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with a verb-first clause, weheeznichu {וְהֶאֶזְנִיחוּ | wə-he-ʾez-nî-ḥû} ‘they will stink’, placing the action before the subject neharot {נְהָרוֹת | nə-hā-rōṯ} ‘rivers’ to foreground sudden pollution. The sequence of perfect verbs (weheeznichu … dalalu … vecharvu … kamelu) functions as a prophetic certainty, describing future collapse with the force of completed events. The verbs dalalu {דָּלֲל֥וּ | dā-lă-lû} ‘they dwindled’ and vecharvu {וְחָרְב֖וּ | wə-ḥār-ḇû} ‘and they dried up’ move from contamination to depletion, intensifying the devastation. The construct chain yeorei matzor {יְאֹרֵי מָצ֑וֹר | yə-ʾō-rê mā-ṣōr} ‘canals of Egypt’ narrows the focus from general rivers to Egypt’s irrigation network, implying economic and agricultural ruin. The closing pair kaneh vasuf {קָנֶה וָס֖וּף | qā-neh wā-sûp} followed by kamelu {קָמֵֽלוּ | qā-mē-lû} ‘they withered’ extends the judgment to shoreline vegetation, completing a downward progression from main waterways to canals to marsh plants. |