| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with the vav-consecutive Qal imperfect vayyaʿăḇəru {וַיַּעַבְר֥וּ | wayyaʿăḇə-rû} ‘and they passed through’, establishing sequential movement. The phrase misham {מִשָּׁ֖ם | miš-šām} ‘from there’ ties this action to the prior setting. The construct chain har Efrayim {הַר־אֶפְרָ֑יִם | har-ʾĕ-frā-yim} ‘the hill country of Ephraim’ combines the noun har {הַר | har} ‘mountain’ with the tribal name Efrayim {אֶפְרָ֑יִם | ʾĕ-frā-yim} to specify the geographic region. The second vav-consecutive verb vayyaʾăbōʾu {וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ | wayyā-ḇō-ʾū} ‘and they came’ continues the narration, followed by ad {עַד | ʿad} ‘up to’, marking the boundary at beit Mikha {בֵּית מִיכָה | bêyt Mî-khā} ‘the house of Micah’. In English, the Hebrew verb-subject-object order is rendered as subject-verb-object to preserve narrative clarity, while construct forms convey relational nuance without restructuring. |