| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative continues with wə-nā-săḇ {וְנָסַב | wə-nā-săḇ} ‘and it turned’, a vav-consecutive prefixed to an imperfect verb to indicate sequence. The pronoun ’ō-ṯô {אֹתוֹ | ’ō-ṯô} ‘it’ restates the feminine noun ha-ge-vûl {הַגְּבוּל | ha-ge-vûl} ‘the boundary’ as direct object. The directional phrase miṣ-ṣə-pōn {מִצְּפֹון | miṣ-ṣə-pōn} ‘from the north’ specifies orientation toward ḫăn-nā-ṯōn {חַנָּתֹן | ḫăn-nā-ṯōn} ‘Hannathon’. A second vav-consecutive wə-hā-yū {וְהָיוּ | wə-hā-yū} ‘and they were’ with a plural subject marks multiple boundary points in ṯō-ṣə-’ō-ṯāw {תֹּצְאֹתָיו | ṯō-ṣə-’ō-ṯāw} ‘its goings-out’. Finally, gē yip-pə-ṭāḥ-’ēl {גֵּי יִפְתַּח־אֵל | gē yiṯ-pə-ṭāḥ-’ēl} ‘valley of Iphtah El’ forms the locative reference. This syntax places directional and locative phrases before the place name, mirroring English while preserving Hebrew narrative flow. |