| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conjunction wîhôšûaʿ {וִיהוֹשֻׁעַ | wîhôšûaʿ} ‘and Joshua’, signaling narrative continuation. The paired construct bin-nûn {בִּן־נ֗וּן | bin-nûn} ‘son of Nun’ and ben-yᵊfunnêh {בֶּן־יְפֻנֶּ֔ה | ben-yᵊfunnêh} ‘son of Jephunneh’ establishes parallel familial identifiers. The phrase min-hattārîm {מִן־הַתָּרִים | min-hattārîm} ‘from the spies’ links these individuals to the prior reconnaissance mission. The particle ’et {אֶת־ | ’et} ‘direct-object-marker’ precedes hā-’āreṣ {הָאָרֶץ | hā-’āreṣ} ‘the land’, marking it as the object. The verb qārə‘û {קָרְעוּ | qārə‘û} ‘they tore’ in Qal perfect indicates a completed, expressive action of grief. The noun bigdêhêm {בִּגְדֵיהֶם | bigdêhêm} ‘their garments’ functions as an idiom for mourning and protest. This syntactic sequence—continuation conjunction, parallel identifiers, membership preposition, object marking, and emotive action—underscores Joshua and Caleb’s solidarity and sorrow in response to the exploration report. |