| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with the vav-consecutive marker vayehi {וַֽיְהִי | way·hî} ‘and it occurred’, signaling a new event. A temporal clause is formed by kishmoa {כִּשְׁמֹעַ | kîš·mō·aʿ} ‘when hearing’, which binds to the subject Baasha. The following vav-consecutive imperfect vayechedal {וַיֶּחְדַּל | way·yeh·ḵə·ḏal} governs the infinitive construct mibbanot {מִבְּנ֖וֹת | miḇ·bə·nō·ṯ} ‘building’, with the particle et {אֶת־ | ʾeṯ} marking the direct object ha-ramah {הָרָמָה | hā·rā·māh}. The chain concludes with vayeshev {וַיֵּשֶׁב | way·ye·šeḇ} plus the locative be-Tirtzah {בְּתִרְצָה | bə·ṯir·ṣāh}, reflecting the swift succession of actions characteristic of Hebrew narrative. |