| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conjunctive vav {ו | wāw} “and” prefixed to the noun uveit {וּבֵ֥ית | ū-bēṯ} “house,” forming the toponym Beth Lebaoth. This is followed by leva’ot {לְבָא֖וֹת | lə-bā-’ōṯ} “of Leba’ot” in construct to link the elements of the place name. Another vav {ו | wāw} “and” attaches to ve-sharuchen {וְשָׁרוּחֶ֑ן | wə-šārū-ḥen} “Sharuhen,” joining it with the preceding toponym. The noun arim {עָרִ֥ים | ’ā-rîm} “towns” is then modified by the feminine construct numeral shelosh-esre {שְׁלֹשׁ־עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה | šəlōš-’eśrê} “thirteen.” Finally, vav {ו | wāw} “and” combines with hatzreihen {חַצְרֵיהֶֽן | ḥa-ṣrē-hen} “their villages,” where the suffix –hen denotes possession by the towns. Hebrew’s cumulative vav conjunction sequence emphasizes enumeration of sites. English preserves this additive list for fidelity to the source text’s structure. |