| 34. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs a series of consecutive vav + Qal perfect verbs veshav {וְשָׁ֨ב | wə-šāḇ} ‘returned’, veyatza {וְיָצָ֥א | wə-yā-ṣāʾ} ‘went out’, and ufaga {וּפָגַ֨ע | ū-pā-ğaʿ} ‘reached’ to map the boundary’s progression. The noun hagvul {הַגְּב֥וּל | ha-gəvūl} functions as the subject, with the directional noun yamah {יָ֙מָּה֙ | yā-mā(h)} ‘westward’ marking its initial turn. Each clause specifies tribal contact via the verb paga {פָּגַ֣ע | pā-ğaʿ} and prepositional phrases such as bizvulun {בִּזְבֻל֜וּן | bi-zə-vū-lun} ‘in Zebulun’, minnegev {מִנֶּ֗גֶב | min-nē-ḡēḇ} ‘from the south’, and uveasher {וּבְאָשֵׁר֙ | ū-ḇə-ʾa-šer} ‘in Asher’. The construct mizrach hashemesh {מִזְרַ֥ח הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ | miz-raḥ ha-šā-mēš} combines “east” and “the sun” to idiomatically denote sunrise, preserved in translation to maintain ancient directional imagery. In the dynamic version, veshav and veyatza are rendered as “curved back” and “turned out” to convey the boundary’s shape. |