| 4. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the subject noun phrase haaretz {הָאָ֗רֶץ | hā-'ā-reṣ} ‘the land’, followed by the relative pronoun asher {אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ăšer} ‘which’ introducing a restrictive relative clause. Within this clause, the Hiphil perfect verb hikkāh {הִכָּ֤ה | hiqqāh} ‘struck’ predicates Yahweh {יְהוָה֙ | Yəhōwāh} ‘LORD’ as the explicit subject. The prepositional phrase lifnei {לִפְנֵי֙ | lifnê} ‘before’ plus the construct chain adat {עֲדַ֣ת | ăḏat} ‘assembly’ and Yisrael {יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yiśrā-'ēl} ‘Israel’ functions as a spatial adjunct marking the witnessing community. The equative construction eretz {אֶ֥רֶץ | ʾe-reṣ} ‘land’ + miqneh {מִקְנֶ֖ה | miq-nê} ‘livestock’ + hi {הִ֑וא | hî} ‘it is’ forms an identification clause. Finally, ve-la-avadekha {וְלַֽעֲבָדֶ֖יךָ | və·lă·’ă·ḇā·ḏê·ḵā} ‘and for your servants’ + miqneh {מִקְנֶֽה | miq-nê} ‘livestock’ expresses possession through conjunction and prepositional prefix plus noun-suffix construct. The Hebrew relative and equative structures are rendered in English by subordinate and identification clauses, preserving emphasis on divine agency and land designation. |