| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with vechol haḥaṣerîm {וְכָל־הַחֲצֵרִים | wə-ḥa-ṣê-rîm} ‘and all the villages,’ a definite plural NP. The relative pronoun ’ăšer {אֲשֶׁר | ’ă-šer} ‘which’ introduces the modifier səvîvôt he‘ārîm hā’ēlleh {סְבִיבוֹת הֶעָרִים הָאֵלֶּה | sə-vî-vôt he-’ā-rîm hā-’ē-lê} ‘surrounding these towns.’ The preposition ’ad {עַד | ’ad} ‘as far as’ marks the territorial boundary specified by the construct chain ba‘ălat bĕ’ēr rāmat nĕgev {בַּעֲלַת בְּאֵר רָאמַת נֶגֶב | ba’-ă-lat bə-’ēr rā-mat nê-gev}. The demonstrative zôt {זֹאת | zôt} ‘this’ introduces the appositional NP naḥălat maṭṭeh bənê-šim‘ôn lĕmišpāḥōtām {נַחֲלַת מַטֵּה בְנֵי־שִׁמְעוֹן לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם | na-ḥă-lat maṭ-tê bə-nê-šim-’ôn lə-miš-pā-ḥō-tām} ‘the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their families.’ This verbless clause expresses possession and clan-based land allotment. English renderings shift the relative clause for readability while preserving the original boundary and division emphasis. |