| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs sequential verbs with vav-consecutive: vayyaʿas {וַיַּ֣עַשׂ | wayyāʿăś} ‘and he did’ and vayyaʿal {וַיַּ֨עַל | wayyāʿal} ‘and he offered up,’ establishing narrative progression. The compound conjunction kaʾasher {כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר | kaʾăšer} ‘just as’ introduces a direct correspondence between Balaam’s speech dibber {דִּבֶּ֣ר | dībbēr} ‘he spoke’ and Balak’s action. The repeated subjects Bālāq ūbilʿām {בָּלָ֧ק וּבִלְעָ֛ם | Bālāq ūbilʿām} highlight their joint participation. The nouns pār {פָּ֥ר | pār} and wāʾăyil {וָאַ֖יִל | wāʾăyil} reflect standard sacrificial pairs. Bammizbēaḥ {בַּמִּזְבֵּֽחַ | bammizbēaḥ} ‘on the altar’ uses the definite article to signal a specific cultic site. In translation, preserving the phrase “on each altar” underscores the multiple offerings and maintains the Hebrew narrative flow. |