| 28. Linguistic Exegesis The causal particle ki {כִּי | kî} introduces the rationale for the event. The terms esh {אֵשׁ | ʾēš} ‘fire’ and lehavah {לֶהָבָ֖ה | lehāvâ} ‘flame’ form synonymous parallelism, heightening the imagery. Both yatsaah {יָֽצְאָ֣ה | yāṣəʾâh} ‘it went out’ and akhlah {אָֽכְלָה֙ | ʾāklâh} ‘it consumed’ are Qal perfect third person feminine singular verbs, personifying these forces. The parallel prepositional phrases min-heshbon {מֵֽחֶשְׁבּ֔וֹן | min-ḥešbôn} and min-qiryat {מִקִּרְיַ֣ת | mīn-qiryāt} underscore the origin of action. The construct sequence baalei bamot arnon {בַּעֲלֵ֖י בָּמ֥וֹת אַרְנֹֽן | baʿălê bāmôt ʾărnôn} clarifies the genitive relationships. The translation preserves this parallelism and construct chain to convey both poetic emphasis and relational hierarchy. |