| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse advances the story with a pair of wayyiqtol forms, wayyaal {וַיַּ֨עַל | wayyaʿal} ‘and he went up’ followed by wayyiven {וַיִּ֖בֶן | wayyiven} ‘and he built’, presenting consecutive military action and immediate fortification. The prepositional phrase al-yehudah {עַל־יְהוּדָ֔ה | ʿal-yəhûḏāh} ‘against Judah’ frames the movement as hostile rather than merely geographic. The object is marked explicitly by et-haramah {אֶת־הָרָמָ֑ה | ʾeṯ-hā-rāmāh}, focusing attention on Ramah as the strategic site being developed. Purpose is expressed through le-vilti {לְבִלְתִּ֗י | lə-bilti} introducing the infinitive tet {תֵּ֚ת | tet} ‘to allow’, a Hebrew construction that states intended prevention. The paired participles yotse va {יֹצֵא וָבָ֔א | yotseʾ vābāʾ} ‘going out and coming in’ function idiomatically for unrestricted travel and trade; negating this pair communicates an ongoing blockade. English renders the compact Hebrew purpose clause as a clear intent statement (“to prevent”) while keeping the bidirectional idiom (“go out or come in”) to preserve the sense of total restriction. |