| 22. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the cohortative verb eebra {אֶעְבְּרָ֣ה | ʼeʿ-bə-rā} expressing a polite request. The phrase be-artsekha {בְאַרְצֶךָ | bə-ʾar-ṣé-kha} combines the preposition be- ‘in’ with a 2nd person masculine suffix, directly addressing the land’s owner. The repeated negative particle lo {לֹ֤א | lōʾ} frames two imperfect verbs—nitteh {נִטֶּה֙ | nī-ṭê} ‘we will turn aside’ and nishteh {נִשְׁתֶּ֖ה | niš-tê} ‘we will drink’—underscoring intentional prohibition. The coordinated objects besadeh {בְּשָׂדֶה֣ | bə-śā-dê} and uvekerem {וּבְכֶ֔רֶם | u-bə-ké-rem} form parallelism. The construct mei be’er {מֵ֣י בְאֵ֑ר | mê bə-ʾêr} ‘waters of a well’ highlights resource restriction. The locative bederekh hamelekh {בְּדֶרֶךְ הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ | bə-dér-ekh ham-mé-lekh} ‘along the King’s Highway’ designates an official route. Finally, the temporal clause ad asher-naavor {עַד אֲשֶֽׁר־נַעֲבֹ֖ר | ʿad ʼă-šer-na-ʿă-vôr} ‘until we pass through’ coupled with gevulekha {גְּבֻלֶֽךָ | gə-vu-lê-kha} marks spatial and temporal limits. The English sequence preserves the Hebrew’s respectful requests and assurances. |