| 9. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative utilizes the vav consecutive sequence vay-ya-BO {וַיָּבֹא | vayyāḇōʾ} ‘and he came,’ followed by vay-YO-mer {וַיֹּאמֶר | vayyōmer} ‘and he said,’ to signal sequential action. The preposition ʾel {אֶל | ʾel} ‘to’ with Bilʿam {בִּלְעָם | Bilʻam} ‘Balaam’ sets the spatial orientation. The interrogative mî {מִי | mî} ‘who’ is fronted to introduce the direct question, with the demonstrative hā-ʼănāšîm hā-ʼēlleh {הָאֲנָשִׁים הָאֵלֶּה | hāʼănāšîm hāʼēlleh} ‘the men these’ emphasizing particular participants, and the suffix in ʿimmāḵ {עִמָּךְ | ʿimmāḵ} ‘with you’ marking association, all rendered in SVO order in English to preserve rhetorical effect. |