| 7. Linguistic Exegesis The Hebrew idiom ben arbaʿim shanah {בֶּן־אַרְבָּעִ֨ים שָׁנָ֜ה | bĕn arbaʿîm šānâ} functions as an age expression (“forty years old”). The infinitive construct bišlôaḥ {בִּשְׁלֹחַ | bišlôaḥ} introduces a temporal clause indicating when Mōšēh {מֹשֶׁה | Mōšēh} as ’eḇeḏ Yəhôwāh {עֶבֶד־יְהוָה | ’eḇeḏ Yəhôwāh} performed the sending. The purpose clause lərəggēl {לְרַגֵּל | lərəggēl} “to spy out” takes the direct object marker ’ēṯ {אֶת | ’ēṯ} + hāʾāreṣ {הָאָרֶץ | hāʾāreṣ} as its target. The vav-consecutive wā’āšēḇ {וָאָשֵׁב | wā’āšēḇ} advances the narrative to “and I returned,” while ka’ăšer with im levavi {כַּאֲשֶׁר | ka’ăšer; עִם־לְבָבִֽי} forms a comparative phrase conveying fidelity to inner conviction. The English rendition preserves Hebrew clause order and idiomatic structures to reflect the original flow. |