| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with the vav-consecutive verb vayya‘ă-nû {וַיַּעֲנ֞וּ | vayya‘ă-nû} “and they answered,” introducing direct speech. The participial clause hā-hōl-ḵîm {הַהֹלְכִים֮ | hā-hōl-ḵîm} “who were going” qualifies khă-mē-šet hā-ʾă-nā-šîm {חֲמֵ֣שֶׁת הָאֲנָשִׁ֗ים | khă-mē-šet hā-ʾă-nā-šîm}, expressing purpose lĕ-rag-gēl {לְרַגֵּל֮ | lĕ-rag-gēl} “to spy out” the land of Laish. The conjunction vay-ō-mĕ-rû {וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ | vay-ō-mĕ-rû} shifts to a question addressed to ʾa-ḥē-hem {אֲחֵיהֶ֔ם | ʼa-ḥē-hem} “their brothers.” The interrogation hay-yĕ-da-‘tēm {הַיְדַעְתֶּ֗ם | hay-yĕ-da-‘tēm} “have you known” plus existential yēš {יֵ֣שׁ | yēš} with locative ba-bat-tîm hā-ʾēl-leh {בַּבָּתִּים֤ הָאֵ֙לֶּה֙ | ba-bat-tîm hā-ʾēl-leh} “in these houses” introduces a catalogue of cultic objects (ʾē-p̄ôd, ṯə-rā-fîm, pe-sel, u-mas-se-kāh). The imperative de-ʿû {דְּע֥וּ | de-ʿû} “know” followed by māh ta-ʿă-šû {מַה־תַּעֲשֽׂוּ | māh ta-ʿă-šû} “what you will do” issues a call to decision. The translation preserves Hebrew word order, the pause before enumeration, and the climactic exhortation. |