| 47. Linguistic Exegesis The verse presents a sequential list of Philistine coastal centers: Ashdod (Ashdod {אַשְׁדּוֹד | ʾaš-dōḏ}) and Azza (Azza {עַזָּה | ʿazzā}) each followed by construct chains of dependent locales—benoteha {בְּנוֹתֶיהָ | bə-nō-ṯê-hā} “its daughters” for adjacent towns and vachatserêha {וַחֲצֵרֶיהָ | va-ḥa-ṣê-rê-hā} “its courtyards” for rural enclosures. The preposition ad {עַד | ʿad} “up to” governs nachal {נַחַל | naḥal} “brook,” marking the traditional boundary adjacent to Mitzrayim {מִצְרָיִם | miṣ-rā-yim} “Egypt.” The coordinated phrase vehayam hagadol ugevul (“and the Great Sea and border”) uses vehayam {וְהַיָּם | wə-hay-yām} “and-the-sea,” hagadol {הַגָּד֖וֹל | ha-ḡā-dōl} “the-great,” and ugevul {וּגְבֽוּל | u-ḡə-vūl} “and-border” to delineate the western limit at the Mediterranean. English rendering preserves the Hebrew construct pattern (“with its…towns and villages”) and the listing of territorial markers (“up to…the brook…and the sea…and border”) to reflect the verse’s emphasis and ancient syntactic flow. |