| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The sequence va’ani {וַאֲנִי | wa-ʾănî} ‘and I’ foregrounds the divine speaker. The intensive Piel imperfect verb akabbets {אֲקַבֵּץ | ʾă-qab-bēṣ} ‘will gather’ emphasizes decisive action. The construct phrase she’erit tsōni {שְׁאֵרִית צֹאנִי | šə-ʾê-rît ṣō-nî} ‘remnant of my flock’ highlights a preserved remnant motif. The relative clause introduced by ʾăšer {אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾă-šer} ‘which’ links to hiddachti {הִדַּחְתִּי | hi-daḥ-tî} ‘I have driven away,’ framing exile as divine discipline. The restoration is marked by va-hašivōtî {וַהֲשִׁיבֹתִי | wa-ha-ši-ḇō-ṯî} ‘and I will bring back’ and the prepositional ʿal-newehen {עַל־נְוֵהֶן | ʿal-nə-wê-hen} ‘upon their pasture,’ reversing the prior dispersion. The final result verbs ū-pārū {וּפָרוּ | û-pā-rû} ‘and they will be fruitful’ and wə-rāḇû {וְרָבוּ | wə-rā-ḇû} ‘and they will multiply’ echo covenantal blessing formulas, closing the restoration narrative with flourishing imagery. |