| 29. Linguistic Exegesis The verse presents a coordinate list of three proper nouns: ba‘alah {בַּעֲלָה | baʿă-lāh}, ‘iyyim {עִיִּים | ʿiyyim}, and ‘aṣem {עָצֶם | ʿāṣem}. Both ‘iyyim and ‘aṣem are prefaced by the conjunction vav {וְ / וָ | wə / wā} ‘and,’ linking each item in a simple additive series. The shift from wə to wā before ‘aṣem reflects the Qamats conversive pattern of vav while retaining the basic “and” function. The absence of verbs or modifiers here marks it as part of a broader topographical catalog of Judah’s southern border, which is rendered in English by preserving the Hebrew list structure and employing “and” for each connected name. |