| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with vayinnachamu {וַיִּנָּֽחֲמוּ | way-yinnā-ḥă-mû} ‘and they were grieved’, where the vav-consecutive prefix introduces an emotive Nifal imperfect conveying passive sorrow. The prepositional phrase ʾel Binyamin achiv {אֶל־בִּנְיָמִן אָחִיו | ʾel bin-yā-min ʾāḥî-w} ‘toward Benjamin, his brother’ marks the object of compassion and underscores tribal kinship. A second vav-consecutive verb vayomru {וַיֹּאמְרוּ | way-yō-mer-û} ‘and they said’ transitions into direct speech. In their statement, the Nifal perfect niggda {נִגְדַּע | nig-ḏaʿ} ‘has been cut off’ expresses a completed passive action. The adverbial hayom {הַיּוֹם | ha-yôm} ‘today’ fixes the timing, and the noun phrase shevet echad miyiśra'el {שֵׁבֶט אֶחָד מִיִּשְׂרָאֵֽל | šê-ḇeṭ ʾe-ḥāḏ mi-yis-rā-ʾêl} ‘one tribe from Israel’ is the subject of that passive. The sequential vav-consecutives and Nifal voices in Hebrew are rendered by corresponding conjunctions and passive constructions in English to preserve narrative flow and emphasize collective emotion. |