| 48. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with ve’ish {וְאִ֨ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל | wə-’îš yiśrā’ēl} ‘every man of Israel,’ establishing the collective subject. A vav-consecutive sequence with shāḇû {שָׁ֣בוּ | šāḇû} ‘they returned’ and wayyakūm {וַּיַּכּ֣וּם | wayyakūm} ‘and they struck them’ drives the narrative. The idiom ləp̄î ḥereḇ {לְפִי־חֶ֔רֶב | ləp̄î ḥereḇ} ‘by the edge of the sword’ indicates the means of slaughter. The paired expressions mēʿîr metîm ʿad bəhēmāh ʿad kol hannimṣāʾ {מֵעִ֤יר מְתִים֙ עַד־בְּהֵמָ֔ה עַד־כָּל־הַנִּמְצָ֑א | mēʿîr metîm ʿad bəhēmāh ʿad kol hannimṣāʾ} ‘from city—men up to livestock, until all that was found’ uses ʿad {עַד | ʿad} for cumulative scope. Finally, gam kol hāʿărîm hannimṣāʾōṯ šilləḥû bāʾēš {גַּ֛ם־כָּל־הֶעָרִ֥ים הַנִּמְצָא֖וֹת שִׁלְּח֥וּ בָאֵֽשׁ | gam kol hāʿărîm hannimṣāʾōṯ šilləḥû bāʾēš} ‘also all the cities that were found they sent into fire’ parallels the slaughter with the burning of settlements, closing the verse with emphatic judgment. |