| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the sequential marker vayōmer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wā-yō-mer} ‘and he said’, introducing direct speech from David {דָּוִד | Dāwîḏ} addressed to Joab {יוֹאָב | Yōʾāḇ} and the commanders (sārê hā-ʿām {שָׂרֵי הָעָם | śārê hā-ʿām} ‘leaders of the people’) using the prepositions ʾel {אֶל | ʾel} ‘to’ and wə-ʾel {וְאֶל | wə-ʾel} ‘and to’. The imperative ləḵû {לְכוּ | lə-ḵû} ‘go’ initiates the command, immediately followed by sīprû {סִפְרוּ | sī-prû} ‘count’ in the Qal imperative. The object marker ʾet {אֶת־ | ʾet} marks Yiśrāʾēl {יִשְׂרָאֵל | Yiśrāʾēl} ‘Israel’ as the scope, while the merismus mib-bēr še-vāʿ wə-ʻad Dān {מִבְּאֵר שֶׁבַע וְעַד־דָּן | mib-bēr še-vāʿ wə-ʻad Dān} expresses the full territory from Beersheba to Dan. The compound command wə-hā-vî-ʾû ʾēlây wə-ʾēḏ-‘āh {וְהָבִיאוּ אֵלַי וְאֵדְעָה | wə-hā-vî-ʾû ʾēlây wə-ʾēḏ-‘āh} ‘and bring it to me that I may know’ combines the Hifil imperative and Qal imperfect in a purpose clause, highlighting David’s intent for precise knowledge of mis-pā-rām {מִסְפָּרָם | mis-pā-rām} ‘their number’. The structure maintains the Hebrew VSO order while accommodating English SVO, preserving the sequence of commands and result clause. |