| 4. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with vayehi {וַיְהִי | wayhî} ‘and it happened’, marking a scene shift. Mimmachorat {מִמָּחֳרָת | mimmaḥōrāt} ‘on the next day’ establishes the temporal setting. The hiphil imperfect of vayashkimu {וַיַּשְׁכִּימוּ | wayyashqîmû} ‘they rose early’ highlights their deliberate action. The sequence continues with vayivnu {וַיִּבְנוּ | wayyibnû} ‘they built’ and the locative sham {שָׁם | šām} ‘there’ situating the work at mizbeach {מִזְבֵּחַ | mizbēaḥ} ‘altar’. Vayaʿalu {וַיַּעֲלּוּ | wayyaʿălû} ‘they offered up’ governs the coordinated nouns olot {עֹלוֹת | ʿôlôṯ} ‘burnt offerings’ and shelamim {שְׁלָמִים | šəlāmîm} ‘peace offerings’, reflecting the ritual sequence. The chain of vav-consecutives creates a cohesive progression rendered in English through coordinated clauses. |