| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive narrative sequence, starting with vayishme'u {וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ | wayyišməʿū} ‘and they heard’, which initiates the report of the Philistines’ reaction. The conjunctive clause ki-nimshach {כִּי־נִמְשַׁ֨ח | kî-nimšaḥ} ‘that he was anointed’ introduces the purpose of the Philistines’ ascent. The status-of-office phrase lemelech al-kol-Yisrael {לְמֶ֙לֶךְ֙ עַל־כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | ləmeleḵ ‘al kol-Yiśrā’ēl} marks the extent of David’s authority. The Piel infinitive levaqqesh {לְבַקֵּ֣שׁ | ləvaqqēš} with et-David {אֶת־דָּוִ֑יד | ’et Dāwîḏ} explicitly identifies David as the direct object of pursuit. The repetition of wayyishma {וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע | wayyišmaʿ} ‘and he heard’ and wayyeitze {וַיֵּצֵ֖א | wayyēṣēʾ} ‘and he went out’ sustains narrative momentum and underscores David’s immediate response. The final prepositional phrase lifneihem {לִפְנֵיהֶם | lip̄nêhem} ‘before them’ conveys an adversarial stance, rendered as ‘against them’. |