| 29. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs a thematic listing structure, initiating each clause with the ethnonym followed by the participle yoshev {יוֹשֵׁב | yō-šēḇ} ‘dwells’, thereby establishing each people’s habitual territory. The locative phrase be-eretz ha-negev {בְּאֶרֶץ הַנֶּגֶב | bə-ʾe-reṣ ha-nē-ḡev} functions as Amalek’s territorial marker. In the second clause, the repeated conjunction ve groups Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites under a single predicate ba-har {בָּהָר | ba-hā-r} ‘in the mountain’, indicating highland settlement. The final clause specifies the Canaanite’s domain through two parallel prepositional phrases—al-ha-yam {עַל־הַיָּם | ʿal-ha-yām} ‘by the sea’ and ve-ʿal yad ha-yarden {וְעַל יַד הַיַּרְדֵּן | wə-ʿal yāḏ ha-ya-rāḏēn} ‘and beside the Jordan’—emphasizing dual geographic boundaries. This repetition and parallelism foreground the link between each ethnonym and its landscape. |