| 9. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the sequential verb veyarad {וְיָרַד | wə-yā-rǎḏ} ‘and it went down’, marking movement of the subject haggevul {הַגְּבוּל | ha-gĕ-vûl} ‘the boundary’. A directional phrase comprising nachal Kanah negebah lanachal {נַחַל קָנָה נֶגְבָּה לַנַּחַל | na-ḥǎl qā-nāh nĕ-ḡă-bāh la-nna-ḥǎl} traces the route to the wadi Kanah and then southward back to the wadi. The construct chain arim haelleh le-ephrayim betokh arei menasheh {עָרִים הָאֵלֶּה לְאֶפְרַיִם בְּתוֹךְ עָרֵי מְנַשֶּׁה | ʻā-rîm hā-ʾê-lĕh lə-ʼe-p̄rā-yîm bə-tô-kh ʻā-rê mə-naš-śêh} expresses Ephraim’s hold in the midst of Manasseh’s towns. A parallel clause with ugevul menasheh mitzfon lanachal {וּגְבוּל מְנַשֶּׁה מִצְּפוֹן לַנַּחַל | ū-ḡə-vûl mə-naš-śêh mî-ṣə-p̄ôn la-nna-ḥǎl} details the northern limit, while vayehi totseotav hayammah {וַיְהִי תֹצְאֹתָיו הַיָּמָּה | wə-yě-hî tō-ṣə-ʼā-ṯāw hă-yămmāh} employs the directional he suffix to denote termination at the sea. The use of vav-consecutive verbs, prepositional phrases, and construct chains underlines the precision of tribal border descriptions. |