| 26. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive sequence vayel’khu {וַיֵּלְכוּ | va-yêleḵû} ‘and they went’ followed by vayavo’u {וַיָּבֹאוּ | va-yāḇōʼû} ‘and they came,’ signaling the scouts’ return. A series of prepositional phrases headed by ʼel {אֶל־ | ʼel} directs the message to Moses {מֹשֶׁה | mōšê}, Aaron {אַהֲרֹן | ʼaharôn}, and the community expressed by kol adāt benei Yisrael {כָּל־עֲדַת־בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל | ḵāl-ʿăḏat-bᵉnê yiśrāʼēl}, creating an inclusive focus. The locative midbār Paran qāḏēšāh {מִדְבַּר־פָּארָן קָדֵשָׁה | midbār pāran qāḏēšāh} situates the report. The Hiphil vayashivu {וַיָּשִׁיבוּ | va-yāšîḇû} ‘they brought back word’ shifts to the act of reporting, with two object markers (wə-ʼet {וְאֶת־ | wə-ʼet} and ʼet {אֶת | ʼet}) emphasizing both message (dāḇār {דָּבָר | dāḇār}) and recipients. Finally, va-yaʾêrûm {וַיַּרְא֖וּם | va-yaʾêrûm} ‘they showed them’ underscores the tangible revealing of pᵉrî {פְּרִי | pᵉrî}, illustrating how Hebrew narrative chains actions to highlight communal revelation. |