| 9. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs a series of prepositional phrases to chart the descent of darkness, starting with neshef {בְּנֶֽשֶׁף | bə-nê-šep̄} ‘twilight’ and paralleled by bə‘erev yôm {בְּעֶ֥רֶב יוֹם | bə-‘e-rev yôm} ‘as evening arrives,’ forming synonymous parallelism to highlight fading light. This is followed by be’îšôn la’îlāh {בְּאִישׁ֥וֹן לַ֝֗יְלָה | bə-’î-šôn la-î-lāh} ‘during the darkest core of the night,’ narrowing focus to midnight, and concludes with wa’afelâh {וַאֲפֵלָֽה | wa-ʾă-fe-lâh} ‘and darkness,’ which functions as a climactic summary emphasizing total absence of light. The layered structure and parallel syntax are rendered in English by mirroring the Hebrew sequence and intensifying terms. |