| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with vayehi {וַיְהִי | wa-yə-hî} ‘and it was’, functioning as a narrative transition marker. The prepositional phrase livnei Aharon {לִבְנֵי אַהֲרֹן | li-və-nê ʾă-hă-rôn} ‘to the sons of Aaron’ establishes the beneficiary. The successive construct chains mimishpechot hakehati {מִמִּשְׁפְּחוֹת הַקְּהָתִ֖י | mim-miš-pə-ḥôt ha-qə-hā-thî} ‘from the families of the Kohathite’ and mibnei Levi {מִבְּנֵ֣י לֵוִ֑י | mibbə-nê lē-wî} ‘from the sons of Levi’ function as appositional modifiers refining tribal identity. The conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} ‘for/because’ introduces a causal clause. The phrase lahem hayah {לָהֶם הָיָה | lā-hem hā-yâ} ‘to them was’ positions the dative pronoun as grammatical subject, followed by the nominal phrase hagoral rishonah {הַגּוֹרָ֖ל רִיאשֹׁונָֽה | ha-gō-rāl ri-ʾšō-nâ} ‘the lot first’ indicating privileged allotment. In translation, the prepositional chains are rendered as attributive modifiers and the causal connection is expressed with “because.” |