| 11. Linguistic Exegesis The verse advances the narrative with the wayyiqtol sequence wayyavo {וַיָּבֹא | wayyāḇōʾ} ‘and he came’ followed by the named subject gad {גָד | Gāḏ}, then the destination phrase el-david {אֶל־דָּוִד | ʾel-Dāwîḏ}, which frames Gad’s approach as an official visit to the king. A second wayyiqtol wayyomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wayyōʾmer} ‘and he said’ introduces direct speech, and lo {לוֹ | lô} ‘to him’ marks David as the recipient. The prophetic messenger formula koh-amar {כֹּה־אָמַר | kōh-ʾāmar} ‘thus said’ functions as a quotation frame, shifting authority from Gad’s voice to the divine speaker, with Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yəhōwāh} placed immediately after the formula for emphasis on the source of the decree. The command qabbel-lakh {קַבֶּל־לָךְ | qabbēl-lāk} ‘receive for yourself’ is a concise imperative that, in context, calls David to accept or select the option that will follow; the attached second-person element makes the decision explicitly personal and unavoidable. |