| 26. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the temporal adverb ve-atah {וְעַתָּה | və-‘aṭ-ṭāh} ‘and now’, marking a turning point in David’s prayer. The emphatic copula ’attāh-hū’ {אַתָּה־הוּא | ’attāh-hū’} ‘you are’ uses pronoun doubling to intensify the affirmation of divine identity. The nominal predicate ha-’ĕlōhîm {הָאֱלֹהִים | hā’ĕlōhîm} ‘the God’ employs a plural form with singular sense, underscoring exclusivity. The vav-consecutive wa-tedabber {וַתְּדַבֵּר | wat-təḏabber} ‘and you spoke’ introduces the divine speech act, with the prepositional phrase ’al-’aḇdeḵā {עַל־עַבְדְּךָ | ’al-’aḇdeḵā} ‘concerning your servant’ functioning as its direct object. The noun–demonstrative sequence ha-ṭōvāh ha-ẓō’ōṯ {הַטּוֹבָה הַזֹּאת | ha-ṭōvāh ha-ẓō’ōṯ} ‘this good thing’ uses adjective + pronoun for specificity, with the adjective preceding the demonstrative to foreground quality. The structure builds theological emphasis by affirming divine identity before revealing the promise, and English renderings mirror these clause boundaries to preserve the original focus. |