| 12. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with vayomer {וַיֹּ֗אמֶר | va-yo-mer} ‘and he said’, introducing direct speech. It frames two parallel conditional structures with im {אִם־ | ʾim} ‘if’, each employing a Qal imperfect in comparative syntax: techezak {תֶּחֱזַ֤ק | tə-ḥe-zäq} ‘be strong’ in the first clause and yechezku {יֶֽחֶזְק֥וּ | ye-ḥe-zqû} ‘be strong’ in the second, both followed by comparative markers (mimmennī/mimmecha). The apodoses feature a vav-consecutive Qal perfect (vehayita) and a vav + Hiphil perfect (vehoshattikha), forming a chiasm that assigns reciprocal rescue roles. This syntactic parallelism underscores the mutual military support in Joab’s strategy. |