| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with vehayarden {וְהַיַּרְדֵּ֥ן | wə-hă-yar-dēn} ‘and the Jordan’, establishing the geographical subject. The verb yigbol {יִגְבֹּל | yiḡ-bōl} ‘will border’ is a Qal imperfect third person masculine singular describing boundary function. The pronoun oto {אֹתוֹ | ’ōṯō} ‘it’ marks the direct object. The phrase lif’at {לִפְאַת | li-p̄aʾt} ‘to the side’ with kedmah {קֵדְמָה | qē-d-māh} ‘eastward’ indicates spatial orientation. The demonstrative zot {זֹאת | zōṯ} ‘this’ introduces the summary statement. Nachalat {נַחֲלַת | naḥă-lāḥ} ‘inheritance’ with benei {בְּנֵי | bĕnē} ‘of the sons’ and vinyamin {בִנְיָמִ֧ן | bin-yā-man} ‘Benjamin’ form the noun phrase for tribal allotment. The construct ligvuloteyha {לִגְבֽוּלֹתֶ֛יהָ | li-gvu-lō-tē-hā} ‘according to its boundaries’, the adverb saviv {סָבִיב | sā-vîv} ‘all around’, and the prepositional phrase lemishpechotam {לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָֽם | lə-mish-pə-ḥō-tām} ‘by their families’ specify territorial limits. Hebrew’s construct chains and locative elements organize the boundary description, which is rendered in English by preserving spatial logic and sequence. |