| 4. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav consecutive Qal imperfect vatikravna {וַתִּקְרַבְנָה | va-ti-krā-vnāh} “and they approached,” which advances the narrative and signals a formal audience. The threefold lifnei {לִפְנֵי | lifnê} “before” introduces a list: Eleazar {אֶלְעָזָר | ʾel·ʿā·zār} the priest {הַכֹּהֵן | ha-kô·hên}, Yehoshua {יְהוֹשֻׁעַ | yə-hō-šû·aʿ} son of Nun {בִּן־נוּן | bin-nûn}, and the leaders {הַנְּשִׂיאִים | ha-nə-šî·ʾîm}, establishing the judicial setting. The infinitive construct le’emor {לֵאמֹר | leʾ-ə-môr} marks direct speech. The verb tzivah {צִוָּה | tsîv-vāh} “commanded” takes the accusative marker et-Mosheh {אֶת־מֹשֶׁה | ʾet mō-šêh}, highlighting Moses’s role in executing divine directives. The noun nachalah {נַחֲלָה | na-ḥă-lāh} “inheritance” appears twice within a prepositional frame betoch acheinu {בְּתוֹךְ אַחֵינוּ | bə-tôk ʾa-ḥê-nû} and betoch achei avi’hen {בְּתוֹךְ אֲחֵי אֲבִיהֶן | בְּתוֹךְ אֲחֵי אֲבִיהֶן}, specifying the kinship group entitled to land. The idiom el-pi Yahweh {אֶל־פִּי יְהוָה | ʾel-pî yə-hō-wāh} “according to the mouth of the LORD” conveys divine authority. The repetition and parallelism underscore the legal and communal emphasis of the text. |