| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The opening temporal adjunct uva-chamishah asar yom {וּבַחֲמִשָּׁ֨ה עָשָׂ֥ר יוֹם֙ | û-ḇa-ḥa-mi-ššāh ʿā-ṣār yôm} marks “and on the fifteenth day” by combining conjunction vav and preposition bet with the cardinal numeral phrase. The following prepositional phrase la-chodesh hazeh {לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֔ה | la-ḥō-ḏêš ha-zêh} specifies “of this month.” The construct chain chag ha-matsot la-Yahweh {חַ֥ג הַמַּצּ֖וֹת לַיהוָ֑ה | ḥagg ham-maṣ-ṣôṯ la-ye-hō-wāh} “festival of the unleavened breads for the LORD” expresses divine possession. Duration is indicated by the construct numeral shivat yamim {שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים | šivʿat yā-mîm} “seven days.” The verb tochelu {תֹּאכֵֽלוּ | tô-ḵê-lû} in Qal imperfect second person masculine plural jussive conveys obligation, rendered with modal auxiliaries to maintain the communal directive force. |