| 1. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the vav-consecutive form vayehi {וַיְהִי | wə-yə-hî} ‘and it came to pass’, serving as a narrative continuation marker. It is followed by the construct noun devar {דְבַר־ | dĕ-var} ‘word’ governing Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yə-hō-wāh} ‘the LORD’, establishing the source of the proclamation. The prepositional phrase elai {אֵלַי | ʾē-lay} ‘to me’ marks the recipient, and the infinitive construct lemor {לֵאמֹר | lē-mōr} ‘saying’ functions as a quotation introducer. In English, the verb-subject-object Hebrew order is rendered subject-verb-object, and lemor is explicitly translated as “saying” to signal the onset of the direct divine utterance. |