| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The Hebrew narrative utilizes the vav-consecutive markers vayyasem {וַיָּשֶׂם | wayyāśem} ‘and he put’ followed by vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wayyōʾmer} ‘and he said’, establishing a sequential divine discourse. Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yəhōwāh} functions as the subject of supernatural communication, with davar {דָּבָר | dāḇār} acting as the direct object inserted into the prepositional construct befi Bilam {בְּפִי בִלְעָם | bep̄î Bilʿām} ‘in the mouth of Balaam’. The imperative shuv {שׁוּב | šûḇ} ‘Return’ issues a divine command, and the formulaic veko tedabber {וְכֹה תְדַבֵּר | wə-ḵô təḏabber} ‘and thus you shall speak’ marks prophetic transmission. The English rendering preserves the Hebrew word order and divine speech structure while conveying the prophetic directive. |