| 33. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the distributive quantifier kol {כָּל | kâl} ‘all’ followed by ʿārê {עָרֵי | ʿārê} ‘cities’ in construct with haggĕršônî {הַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּי | haggĕršônî} ‘the Gershonite’, indicating the Levitical recipient group. The prepositional phrase lə-mišpāḥôtām {לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם | lə-mišpāḥôtām} ‘to their clans’ specifies internal distribution. The compound numeral šalōš-ʿaśrā {שְׁלֹשׁ־עֶשְׂרֵה | šalōš-ʿaśrā} ‘thirteen’ precedes ʿîr {עִיר | ʿîr} ‘town’, reflecting Hebrew numeral–noun order. The conjunction u- linking migrashêhên {וּמִגְרְשֵׁיהֶן | u-migrashêhên} ‘and their pasturelands’ attaches a coordinating phrase, indicating grazing areas accompany each town. In English, the noun–number sequence is rendered as “thirteen towns” and the prepositional phrase follows the noun for natural flow while preserving the original distributive force. |