| 4. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the narrative vav-consecutive in vayetse {וַיֵּצֵא | wayyeṣēʾ} ‘and he came out’, signaling the progression of sacred distribution. The noun hagoral {הַגּוֹרָל | haggôrāl} ‘the lot’ functions as subject, followed by the recipient phrase lemishpechot {לְמִשְׁפְּחֹת | lə-mišpəḥôt} ‘to the families’, specifying the Kohathite clan. The construct chain livnei Aharon hakohen {לִבְנֵי אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן | li-vənē ʼāhǎrōn hak-kōhēn} identifies Aaron’s priestly lineage among the Levites. Subsequent coordinated prepositional phrases introduced by min {מִן־} and ūmin {וּמִן־} ‘from’ enumerate the tribal sources (Judah, Simeon, Benjamin). The numeric unit-plus-ten expression shelosh esre {שְׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה | šalōš ʿəśrē} ‘thirteen’ agrees with the feminine plural noun arim {עָרִים | ʿārîm} ‘cities’. In English, the coordinated list of tribes and the unified number are rendered for clarity while preserving the original sequence. |