| 7. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with arot {עָרוֹת | ʿā-rōṯ} ‘bare places’, establishing the setting along the riverbanks. The prepositional chains al-ye’or {עַל־יְאֹר | ʿal-yə-ʾôr} ‘upon the river’ and al-pi ye’or {עַל־פִּי יְאֹר | ʿal-pî yə-ʾôr} ‘at the mouth of the river’ specify the location. The construct mizra’ ye’or {מִזְרַע יְאֹר | miz-rāʿ yə-ʾôr} ‘sown thing of the river’ denotes fields irrigated by the Nile’s waters. The sequence of verbs yivash {יִיבַשׁ | yîy-ḇaš} ‘it shall dry up’, niddaf {נִדַּף | nid-dāf} ‘it is driven away’, and ve-einennu {וְאֵינֶנּוּ | wə-ʾê-nɛn-nû} ‘and it is no more’ forms a climactic tricolon that underscores progressive devastation. The translation mirrors the Hebrew vav-consecutive series with future English verbs to convey certainty and completeness. |