| 7. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the prepositional phrase livnei {לִבְנֵי | lî-ḇnê} ‘to the sons’, marking the recipients, followed by the proper name Merari {מְרָרִי | mə-rārî} specifying the Levitical clan. The construct phrase lemishpechotam {לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם | lə-mišpəḥōṯām} ‘according to their families’ indicates subdivision within the clan. A series of distributive phrases mimatteh {מִמַּטֵּה | mimaṭṭēh} + proper name enumerates the tribal sources (Reuben, Gad, Zebulun). Finally, the nominal expression arim {עָרִים | ‘ārîm} ‘cities’ with the numeral phrase shtayim esreh {שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה | šᵉttêym ʿeśrê} ‘twelve’ follows Hebrew numerical construct rules. The clause remains nominal with the verb ‘were given’ implied, reflecting typical allocation syntax in the Deuteronomistic history. |