| 12. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with a fronted prepositional phrase, minnogah {מִנֹּ֗גַהּ | min-nōgah} ‘from brightness’, which sets the scene in radiant theophanic light and functions as the source point from which the following action proceeds. The spatial modifier negdo {נֶ֫גְדּ֥וֹ | neḡdô} ‘before Him’ tightens the focus by locating the brightness directly in front of the implied divine figure; the suffix supplies the referent without naming Him explicitly. The subject avav {עָבָ֥יו | ʿāḇāyw} ‘His clouds’ links the storm imagery to that same divine referent through possession, portraying the clouds as part of His advancing presence. The main verb avru {עָבְר֑וּ | ʿāḇərû} ‘they passed on’ depicts decisive forward movement, typical of Hebrew poetic storm-theophany description. The final pair, barad {בָּ֝רָ֗ד | bārāḏ} ‘hail’ and vegachalei-esh {וְגַחֲלֵי־אֵֽשׁ | wə-gaḥălê-ʾēš} ‘and coals of fire’, is coordinated and placed after the verb, producing a vivid, piled-on effect: destructive elements accompany (or follow from) the cloud-movement. A common alternative construal takes the hail and fiery coals as breaking out through the clouds; this is syntactically possible in poetry, but the straightforward reading keeps avav as the subject of avru, with the subsequent nouns presented as the storm’s attendant instruments. |