| 26. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the quantifier kol {כָּל | kâl} ‘all’ modifying eser arim {עֶשֶׂר עָרִים | ʿe·śer ʿā·rîm} ‘ten cities’. The vav-conjunction on ūmigrəšêhem {וּמִגְרְשֵׁיהֶן | ū·migrə·šê·hem} ‘and their pasturelands’ links the lands to those cities. The prepositional phrase ləmišpəḥôṯ {לְמִשְׁפְּחוֹת | lə·miš·pə·ḥô·ṯ} ‘to families’ introduces the beneficiaries, completed by bnei kehāṯ hanōṯārîm {בְּנֵי־קְהָת הַנּוֹתָרִים | bə·nê·y keh·āṯ han·nō·ṯā·rîm} ‘the remaining sons of Kohath’. The fronted noun phrase detailing the objects transferred, followed by the recipient phrase, reflects distributive allocation in Hebrew, where emphasis is placed on the full allotment before identifying the beneficiaries. |