| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with a series of vav consecutives: vayyābōʾ {וַיָּבֹא֙ | wayyābōʾ} ‘and he came’, vayyešeḇ {וַיֵּ֖שֶׁב | wayyešeḇ} ‘and he sat’, wayyōʾmēr {וַיֹּאָמֶר | wayyōʾmēr} ‘and he said’, typical of Hebrew narrative linkage. The prepositional phrase lip̄nê Yəhôwāh {לִפְנֵי יְהוָה | lip̄nê Yəhôwāh} ‘before the LORD’ centres the scene at the divine presence. The interrogatives mî-ʼănî {מִי־אֲנִי | mî-ʼănî} ‘who am I’ and ûmî bēyîtî {וּמִי בֵיתִי | ûmî bēyîtî} ‘and who is my house’ form a parallelism that expresses humility. The Hifil perfect hahbiyāṭānî {הֲבִיאֹתַנִי | hahbiyāṭānî} ‘you have brought me’ underscores God’s active role. The adverbial construct ʿad-hālom {עַד־הֲלֹם | ʿad-hālom} ‘up to here’ marks the extent of divine guidance. English preserves the action sequence and rhetorical questions to convey David’s wonder. |