| 4. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with a fronted construct chain, udevar-hammelekh {וּדְבַר־הַמֶּלֶךְ | ûḏəḇar-hammeleḵ} ‘the king’s word/command’, which functions as the clause topic; the following qatal verb khazaq {חָזַק | ḥāzaq} ‘was strong, prevailed’ supplies the predicate, forming an idiom of authoritative coercion (“the king’s word prevailed over Joab”). The prepositional phrase ʿal-yoav {עַל־יוֹאָב | ʿal-yōʾāḇ} ‘over/against Joab’ marks Joab as the one pressured by the command. The narrative then advances with a chain of wayyiqtol forms: wayyetze {וַיֵּצֵא | way-yēṣēʾ} ‘and he went out’ initiates action, the repeated subject yoav {יוֹאָב | yōʾāḇ} re-identifies the actor, and wayyithalekh {וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ | way-yithallēḵ} ‘and he walked about’ (Hitpael) portrays extended, ongoing movement rather than a single trip. The scope phrase bəkhol-yisraʾēl {בְּכָל־יִשְׂרָאֵל | bəkhol-yisraʾēl} ‘throughout all Israel’ broadens the journey to the whole territory. The final wayyiqtol wayyavo {וַיָּבֹא | way-yāḇōʾ} ‘and he came’ closes the sequence with arrival at yerushalayim {יְרוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם | yərûšālāyim}. In English, the linked Hebrew clauses are rendered with coordinating conjunctions and natural movement verbs while preserving the progression: command dominates, Joab departs, he makes his circuit, and he arrives. |