| 40. Linguistic Exegesis The verse unfolds with the noun wə-hammāśʾêt {וְהַמַּשְׂאֵת | wə-ham-mā-śêṯ} ‘and the signal,’ introducing the central visual cue. The Hiphil perfect hē-ḥē-lā {הֵחֵלָּה | hē-ḥē-lā} and infinitive construct la-ʿă-lôṯ {לַעֲלוֹת | la-ʿă-lôṯ} ‘began to ascend’ depict the initiation of motion. The prepositional phrase min-hā-ʿîr {מִן־הָעִיר | min-hā-ʿîr} ‘from the city’ marks the origin, while ʿam-mûḏ ʿā-šān {עַמּוּד עָשָׁן | ʿam-mûḏ ʿā-šān} ‘pillar of smoke’ provides appositional imagery. The vav-consecutive way-yip-phen bin-yā-min ʾa-ḥă-rāw {וַיִּפֶן בִּנְיָמִן אַחֲרָיו | way-yip-phen bin-yā-min ʾa-ḥă-rāw} ‘and Benjamin turned back’ shifts the narrative focus to the rear scene. The conjunction wə-hin-nēh {וְהִנֵּה | wə-hin-nēh} ‘and behold’ introduces the climactic revelation, and the clause ʿā-lāh kə-lîl-hā-ʿîr ha-šā-mā-y-ma(h) {עָלָה כְּלִיל־הָעִיר הַשָּׁמָיְמָה | ʿā-lāh kə-lîl-hā-ʿîr ha-šā-mā-y-ma(h)} ‘the whole city ascended skyward’ combines the directional he to convey upward movement with the construct chain to emphasize totality. The sequence of vav-consecutive verbs preserves the rapid pacing of the narrative. |