| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with two coordinated imperatives introduced by daber {דַּבֵּר | dā-ber} and veqach {וְקַח | wə-qā-ḥ}, signaling speech followed by action. The construct noun bnei Yisraʾel {בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל | be-nei yiś-rā-ʾēl} defines the audience. The object phrases meitam matteh meʾet kol nesiʾeihem {מֵאִתָּם מַטֶּה מֵאֵת כָּל־נְשִׂיאֵיהֶם} ‘from them a staff from all their leaders’ uses successive prepositional phrases to specify source and representative. The construct leveit avotam {לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם | lə-bêit ʾă-vō-tām} groups leaders by ancestral house, reinforced by the numeral shneim ʿasar matot {שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר מַטּוֹת | šnay-im ʿā-śār maṭ-tōt}. The final clause ish et shemo tiktov al mattehu {אִישׁ אֶת־שְׁמוֹ תִּכְתֹּב עַל־מַטֵּהוּ | ʾīš ʾet še-mō tiḥ-tōḇ ʿal maṭ-tē-hū} combines subject, direct object marker, and verb to mandate inscription. English follows Hebrew word order and clan structure. |