| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with ve'adirehem {וְאַדִּ֣רֵיהֶ֔ם | wə-ʾad-dirē-hem} ‘and their nobles’, marking the elite as agents. The verb shal'chu {שָׁלְח֥וּ | šāl-ḥū} governs two coordinated objects, tsoreyhem {צעוריהם | ṣə-ʿō-rê-hem} ‘their youthful ones’ and tse'irehem {צְעִירֵיהֶ֖ם | ṣə-ʿî-rê-hem} ‘their young ones’, with lamayim {לַמָּ֑יִם | la-mā-yim} ‘for the water’. The motion clause ba'u al-gevim {בָּאוּ עַל־גֵּבִ֞ים | bā-ʾū ʿal-gē-vîm} ‘they came to cisterns’ pairs with lo-matzeu mayim {לֹא־מָ֣צְאוּ מַ֗יִם | lō maṣ-ʾū mā-yim} ‘they did not find water’ to emphasize drought. The return clause shavu keleihem reikam {שָׁבוּ כְלֵיהֶם רֵיקָם | šā-ḇū kə-lê-hem rê-qām} ‘they returned with their vessels empty’ employs an attributive adjective. The asyndetic triad boshu, vehoklemu, vechafu {בֹּשׁוּ וְהָכְלְמוּ וְחָפ֥וּ | bō-šū wə-hā-ḵlə-mū wə-ḥā-pū} ‘they were ashamed, were humiliated, and covered’ plus rosham {רֹאשָֽׁם | rō-šām} ‘their heads’ builds emotional intensity, framing communal despair. |