| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with vayyiqqahehu {וַיִּקָּחֵ֙הוּ֙ | wăyyiqqāhêhû} “and he took him,” employing the vav-consecutive to advance the storyline. The construct phrase s’deh tzophim {שְׂדֵ֣ה צֹפִ֔ים | sədeh tsôphîm} establishes a possessive place-name “field of Zophim.” The directional prepositional clause el rosh ha-pisgah {אֶל־רֹאשׁ הַפִּסְגָּה | ʾel rōš happis·gāh} specifies movement “to the summit of Pisgah.” Subsequent vav-consecutive verbs vayiven “and he built” and vayaal “and he offered” denote a sequence of ritual actions. The numeral-noun pairing shivah mizbechot {שִׁבְעָה מִזְבְּחוֹת | shiv‘āh mizbĕḥōt} reflects the Hebrew cardinal numeral order. The coordinated objects par vaayil bammizbeach {פָּר וָאַיִל בַּמִּזְבֵּחַ | pâr wā’ăyil bammizbēaḥ} describe the sacrificial animals and their locus. The English rendition preserves the setting–construction–offering structure of the Hebrew narrative. |