| 15. Linguistic Exegesis The verse presents two coordinated appointment statements, joined by initial וְ {וְ | wə} and a second vav-prefixed name וִ {וִ | wî}, creating a list-like administrative notice. Each man is identified first by a construct lineage chain ben {בֶּן־ | bĕn} + personal name, a common Hebrew way to anchor status and identity. Joab’s role is expressed through a prepositional authority phrase al {עַל־ | ʿal} + definite noun hatsava {הַצָּבָא | haṣ-ṣā-ḇāʾ} ‘the army’, a syntactic pattern indicating oversight or jurisdiction. Jehoshaphat’s role is given by the predicate participle mazkir {מַזְכִּיר | mazqîr} ‘recorder’, which functions as an office title and implies an ongoing administrative duty. Hebrew omits an explicit copula in both clauses; English supplies “was” (and in formal, “was appointed”) to convey the verbless identification structure while preserving the parallelism between the two appointments. |