| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse is a compact narrative line driven by two coordinated wayyiqtol verbs: wayyebarkhehu {וַֽיְבָרְכֵ֖הוּ | wāy-yə-ḇā-rə-ḵê-hû} ‘and he blessed him’ followed by wayyitten {וַיִּתֵּ֧ן | wāy-yit-tēn} ‘and he gave’. This verb chain presents sequential actions, with blessing functioning as the formal endorsement that precedes the concrete land grant. The subject yehoshua {יְהוֹשֻׁ֑עַ | yə-hō-šūaʿ} is placed after the first verb, a common Hebrew discourse pattern that keeps the action prominent while still identifying the agent. The object is marked explicitly by et-chevron {אֶת־חֶבְר֛וֹן | ʾeṯ-ḥeḇ-rōn}, highlighting Hebron as the specific possession transferred. The recipient is expressed with lə-ḵā-lēḇ {לְכָלֵ֥ב | lə-ḵā-lēḇ}, further identified by the construct apposition ben-yə-pun-neh {בֶּן־יְפֻנֶּ֖ה | ben-yə-pun-neh} ‘son of Jephunneh’. The closing prepositional phrase lə-na-ḥă-lāh {לְנַחֲלָֽה | lə-na-ḥă-lāh} ‘as an inheritance’ frames the gift in legal-covenantal terms: the transfer is not temporary use but an enduring allotment. In English, the coordinated verbs are rendered with natural sequencing (“blessed… and granted/assigned”) while retaining the forward-moving structure of the Hebrew. |