| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the prepositional phrase begoral {בְּגוֹרַ֖ל | bə-gō-rāl} 'by lot,' indicating an impartial allocation mechanism. The construct phrase nachalatam {נַחֲלָתָ֑ם | naḥă-lā-ṯām} 'their inheritance' specifies collective entitlement with a third person masculine plural suffix. In the clause introduced by kaasher {כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר | ka-ʾă-šer} 'just as,' the verb tzivvah {צִוָּ֤ה | ṣîvvāh} 'he commanded' in Piel perfect conveys a completed divine decree by Yahweh {יְהוָה֙ | Yəhōvâh}. The instrumental phrase beyad-Mosheh {בְּיַד־מֹשֶׁ֔ה | bə-yad-Mōšēh} 'through Moses' marks Moses as the human intermediary. Finally, the sequence le-tishat hamattot vachatsi hamateh {לְתִשְׁעַ֥ת הַמַּטּ֖וֹת וַחֲצִ֥י הַמַּטֶּֽה | lə-ṯîš̄-ʿat ham-maṭ-ṭōt va-ḥă-ṣî ham-maṭ-ṭeh} 'to the nine tribes and the half-tribe' enumerates recipients using a construct chain to bind numerals to nouns. In English, the instrumental phrase follows the verb to preserve the Hebrew emphasis on divine command, while the recipient list is placed at the end for natural readability. |