| 24. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative unfolds through vav-consecutive verbs that drive the storyline. The initial verb vayyelekh {וַיֵּ֕לֶךְ | wayyēleḵ} ‘and he went’ sets the travel context and is immediately followed by vayyiṃṣōʾēhu {וַיִּמְצָאֵ֧הוּ | wayyim-ṣāʾēhû} ‘and he met him,’ introducing the sudden appearance of ’aryēh {אַרְיֵ֛ה | ’ǎr-yēh} ‘lion’ as the narrative agent. The Hiphil verb vaymīṯēhû {וַיְמִיתֵ֑הוּ | wayyemīṯēhû} ‘and he killed him’ conveys causative violence, while the Pual participle mušleḵeṯ {מֻשְׁלֶ֣כֶת | muš-le-ḵeṯ} ‘cast’ with construct nivlāṯō {נִבְלָתוֹ֙ | niwlāṯō} ‘his corpse’ depicts the victim’s resultant state. The coordinated nouns wəḥămōr {וְהַחֲמוֹר֙ | wə-ḥă-mōr} ‘the donkey’ and wəhārḗh {וְהָ֣אַרְיֵ֔ה | wə-hā-’ǎ-rēh} ‘the lion’ each pair with the participle ’ōmēḏ {עֹמֵ֖ד | ’ō-mēḏ} ‘standing’ and the preposition ’ēṣel/’eṣlâh {אֵ֥צֶל | ’ē-ṣel; אֶצְלָ֔הּ} ‘beside,’ framing a striking tableau of stillness that accentuates the abrupt violence and aftermath. |