| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with the vav-consecutive form wayyisha'al {וַיִּשְׁאַ֨ל | wayyiš·ʾal} ‘and he inquired,’ which shifts the action into the past. The proper name David {דָּוִ֤יד | Dāwîḏ} governs the following prepositional phrase beElohim {בֵּאלֹהִים֙ | bəʾĕlōhîm} ‘of God,’ indicating formal divine consultation. The infinitive le'emor {לֵאמֹ֔ר | leʾemor} ‘to say’ introduces indirect speech marked by the deliberative interrogative ha'e'eleh {הַאֶֽעֱלֶה֙ | haʾeʿēlêh} ‘shall I go up.’ The prepositional compound al-pelishtayim {עַל־פלשתיים | ʿal-pəlīštayim} ‘against the Philistines’ specifies the military target. The imperfect form unetatam {וּנְתַתָּ֖ם | ûnəṯattām} plus suffix chain expresses David’s request for divine empowerment. The response begins with wayyomer {וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | wayyōmer} ‘and he said,’ followed by the dative pronoun lo {ל֤וֹ | lō} ‘to him,’ leading to the imperative aleh {עֲלֵ֔ה | ʿālēh} ‘go up’ and the promise unetatim {וּנְתַתִּ֖ים | ûnəṯattîm} ‘I will give them,’ with the concluding prepositional clause beyadekha {בְּיָדֶֽךָ׃ | bəyāḏəkā} ‘into your hand.’ English shifts from Hebrew VSO to SVO for clarity while preserving the deliberative–response pattern. |