| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with the vav-consecutive verb vayomer {וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | wā-yō-mer} ‘and he said,’ which shifts into reported speech. The prepositional phrase lena'aro {לְנַעֲרוֹ | lə-nā-ʿă-rō} ‘to his servant’ sets the audience. The imperative lekha {לְךָ֥ | lə-khā} ‘come’ issues a direct summons, immediately followed by the first person plural cohortative venikrevah {וְנִקְרְבָ֖ה | wə-niq-rə-bā} ‘let us draw near,’ combining intent and invitation. The sequence be’achad hamekomot {בְּאַחַ֣ד הַמְּקֹמ֑וֹת | bə-ʾaḥ-ád ham-mi-qō-mōṯ} ‘in one of the places’ narrows the choice of location. A second cohortative velanu {וְלַ֥נּוּ | wə-lan-nū} ‘let us spend the night’ expresses purpose. The alternate destinations bagivah {בַגִּבְעָ֖ה | ba-giv-ʿā} ‘in Gibeah’ and baramah {בָרָמָה׃ | ba-rā-mā} ‘in Ramah’ are connected by the conjunction o {אוֹ | ʼō} ‘or,’ presenting mutually exclusive options in this travel narrative. |