| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse unfolds through a sequence of vav-consecutive verbs that link actions in continuous narrative, beginning with vayakam {וַיָּ֨קָם | wa-yā-qām} ‘and he arose’ and vayelekh {וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ | wa-yē-leḵ} ‘and he went’. The infinitive lə-da-bēr {לְדַבֵּ֤ר | lə-da-bēr} combined with the idiomatic phrase ʿal-libbāh {עַל־לִבָּהּ֙ | ʿal-libbāh} ‘to her heart’ expresses purpose in persuasion. The paired hifil infinitives lə-ha-šî-wō {לְהַשִּׁיבוֹ | lə-ha-šî-wō} ‘to bring him back’ and la-hă-šî-wāh {לַהֲשִׁיבָ֔הּ | la-hă-šî-wāh} ‘to return her’ emphasize reciprocal restoration. The construct phrase wə-ṣe-med ḥă-mō-rîm {וְצֶמֶד חֲמֹרִ֑ים | wə-ṣe-med ḥă-mō-rîm} ‘and a pair of donkeys’ specifies means of travel. The clause wat-te-vi-ʾē-hū bēṯ ʾā-ḇî-hā {וַתְּבִיאֵ֙הוּ בֵּ֣ית אָבִ֔יהָ | wat-te-vi-ʾē-hū bēṯ ʾā-ḇî-hā} ‘and she brought him to her father’s house’ shifts focus to a new setting. The final vayismach {וַיִּשְׂמַ֖ח | wa-yis-ma-aḥ} ‘and he rejoiced’ with liq-rā-ṯō {לִקְרָאתֽוֹ | liq-rā-ṯō} ‘to meet him’ conveys the father’s emotional response. English renders the narrative in past tense to mirror the Hebrew perfective sequence, and retains the Hebrew idiom ‘to speak to her heart’ for its emotional nuance. |