| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative unfolds with the vav-consecutive verb vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wăyyṓmer} ‘and he said’, identifying David as speaker. The imperfect e’eseh {אֶעֱשֶׂה | ’eʾɛ́sɛh} ‘I will do’ introduces his intention, followed by the noun chesed {חֶסֶד | ḥésɛd} ‘kindness’, underscoring covenant loyalty. The conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} ‘because’ links to Nahash’s own chesed {חֶסֶד | ḥésɛd}, providing motive. Another vav-consecutive with vayishlach {וַיִּשְׁלַח | wayyišlāḥ} ‘and he sent’ introduces malakhim {מַלְאָכִים | malʾāḵîm} ‘messengers’, whose purpose is marked by the infinitive lenachamo {לְנַחֲמוֹ | lənaḥămṓ} ‘to comfort’. The prepositional phrase el-eretz {אֶל־אֶרֶץ | ʾel-ʾěreṣ} ‘to the land’ frames their destination, and the repeated lenachamo reinforces the mission’s intent. This maintains Hebrew narrative order while clarifying causal and sequential relations in English. |