| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The verse uses a sequential vav-consecutive narrative with imperfect verbs—vayakumu {וַיָּק֙וּמוּ֙ | wayyāqūmû} ‘and they arose’, vayavo’u {וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ | wayyāḇō’û} ‘and they came’, vayomru {וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ | wayyō’merû} ‘and they said’—to convey rapid action. The construct serey {שָׂרֵ֣י | śārê} ‘princes’ with Moav {מוֹאָ֔ב | mō’āḇ} ‘Moab’ marks their official status. The prepositional el-balak {אֶל־בָּלָ֑ק | ʾel-bā-lāq} ‘to Balak’ indicates the recipient. In the reported speech, the perfect verb me’en {מֵאֵ֥ן | mē’ēn} ‘he refused’ with infinitive halokh {הֲלֹ֥ךְ | ha-lōḵ} ‘to go’ expresses categorical refusal, and the prepositional phrase immanu {עִמָּֽנוּ | ʿimmānû} ‘with us’ completes the statement. Hebrew’s direct report without a complementizer produces immediacy that the English preserves by mirroring the verb sequence and infinitive complement. |