| 15. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the prefixed construct ufe'at-negebah {וּפְאַת־נֶ֕גְבָּה | ū-pᵊ-ʾat-nĕg-bāh} 'edge of the south', linking the boundary clause with vav. A double construct chain miktze kiryat ye‘arim {מִקְצֵ֖ה קִרְיַ֣ת יְעָרִ֑ים | mik-tsē kir-yaṯ yə-‘ā-rîm} 'from the end of the city of forests' establishes the origin point. Sequential movement is marked by the vav-consecutive imperfect veyatsa {וְיָצָ֤א | wə-yā-ṣā} 'and it went out', taking ha-gevul {הַגְּבוּל֙ | ha-gĕ-vul} 'the border' with the directional complement yamah {יָ֔מָּה | yā-māh} 'westward'. A second vav-consecutive connects to el-ma‘ayan mei neftoach {אֶל־מַעְיַ֖ן מֵ֥י נֶפְתּֽוֹחַ | ʾel-ma-‘ay-yan mĕ-yê nep-tō-aḥ} 'to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah', completing the geographic list. The English rendering uses connected clauses to preserve the Hebrew’s tight sequence of construct chains and verb forms. |