| 42. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with vayhi {וַיְהִי | wayyēhî} ‘and it happened,’ a vav-consecutive marker introducing a new event. The infinitive construct behiqqāhêl {בְּהִקָּהֵל | bĕhiqqāhêl} ‘when assembling’ establishes temporal context for haʿēdāh {הָעֵדָה | hāʿēdāh} ‘the assembly.’ The paired prepositions ʿal-mōšêh {עַל־מֹשֶׁה | ʿal-mōšêh} and wə-ʿal-ʾahārōn {וְעַל־אַהֲרֹן | wə-ʿal-ʾahārōn} highlight collective opposition. Wayyippənū {וַיִּפְנוּ | wayyippənū} ‘and they turned’ shifts focus toward ʾel-ʾōheyl mōʿēd {אֶל־אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד | ʾel-ʾōheyl mōʿēd} ‘toward the tent of meeting.’ The presentative wə-hinnēh {וְהִנֵּה | wə-hinnēh} ‘and behold’ heightens dramatic immediacy. Kissāʾū {כִסָּהוּ | kissāʾū} ‘it covered it’ with hēʿānān {הֶעָנָן | hēʿānān} ‘the cloud’ signals pre-theophanic concealment. The passive imperfect wayyērā {וַיֵּרָא | wayyērā} ‘and appeared’ introduces kəvôḏ Yahweh {כְבוֹד יְהוָה | kəvôḏ Yəhōwāh} ‘glory of the LORD,’ culminating the theophany and preserving the Hebrew temporal-causal flow. |