| 27. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the narrative sequence using vayesapperu-lo {וַיְסַפְּרוּ־לוֹ | way-ye-sap-per-û-lō} ‘and they recounted to him’ combined with vayomeru {וַיֹּאמְרוּ | way-yō-mer-û} ‘and they said’ to introduce reported speech. The perfect banu {בָּאנּוּ | bā-ʾan-nū} ‘we came’ marks a completed arrival into the direct object el-haaretz {אֶל־הָאָרֶץ | el-hā-ʾā-reṣ} ‘the land’, which is defined by the restrictive relative clause asher shlach-tanu {אֲשֶׁר שְׁלַחְתָּנוּ | ʾă-šer šə-la-ḥtā-nū} ‘which you sent us’. The coordinating conjunction vegam {וְגַם | wə-gam} ‘and also’ introduces the participial clause zavat chalav udevash {זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ | zā-vat ḥā-lā-v u-ḏə-vaš} ‘flowing with milk and honey’, where the feminine participle zavat conveys ongoing abundance. Finally, the demonstrative vezeh-pirya {וְזֶה־פִּרְיָהּ | wə-zeh-pī-ryā(h)} ‘and this is its fruit’ points to tangible produce, likely presented as evidence of the land’s fertility. The English renders the Hebrew word order and maintains the participial aspect through continuous tense. |