| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with the vav-consecutive verb vatehi {וַתְּהִי | va·tə·hî} “and there was,” followed by the adverb ‘od {עוֹד | ʿôḏ} “again,” indicating repeated conflict. The noun milchamah {מִלְחָמָה | mil·ḥā·māh} “battle” sets a martial scene, and the locative beGat {בְּגַת | bə·Gaṯ} “in Gath” specifies the setting. A second vav-consecutive vayehi {וַיְהִי | va·yə·hî} introduces ish middah {אִישׁ מִדָּה | ʾîš mid·dāh} “a man of measure,” marking exceptional size. The phrase ve-etsbe‘otav shesh-wa-shesh esrim ve-arba {וְאֶצְבְּעֹתָיו שֵׁשׁ־וָשֵׁשׁ עֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבַּע} “and his digits six and six, twenty and four” employs parallelism and merism to emphasize the unusual count, where etsbe‘otav covers both fingers and toes. The final clause ve-gam hu nolad le-harapa {וְגַם־הוּא נוֹלַד לְהָרָפָא | wə·gam-hû’ nô·lād lə·hā·rā·p̄ā’} “and he also was born to Rapha” indicates his giant lineage. |