| 23. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative shifts to direct divine speech with the vav-consecutive verb vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wayyō-mer}, marking the introduction of Yahweh’s address. The coordinated recipients in el mosheh wəʾel aharon {אֶל־מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל־אַהֲרֹן | ʾel mō-šeh wə-ʾel ʾă-hā-rôn} emphasize shared leadership. The locative compound bəhor hāhar {בְּהֹר הָהָר | bə-hōr hā-hār} precisely situates the event “at Mount Hor,” while the construct chain ʿal-gəvul ʾerets-ʾedom {עַל־גְּב֥וּל אֶֽרֶץ־אֱד֖וֹם | ʿal g e-vul ʾerets ʾe-dōm} anchors it “on the border of the land of Edom.” The infinitive construct lēʾamor {לֵאמֹר | lē-ʾamōr} functions as a discourse marker introducing the forthcoming command. The translation preserves Hebrew word order and compound constructions through clear English prepositional phrases. |