| 29. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the narrative marker vayehi {וַיְהִי | wə-yə-hî} ‘and it happened’, pairing the vav consecutive with a Qal imperfect to transition events. The temporal infinitive construct kemalkho {כְמָלְכ֗וֹ | kə-mā-lə-kô} ‘as he reigned’ establishes timing for the Hifil perfect verb hikah {הִכָּה | hiqqāh} ‘he struck down’. That verb governs the object phrase et kol beit yarav’am {אֶת־כָּל־בֵּית יָרָבְעָם | ʾeṯ-kāl-bêṯ-yā-rāḇə-ʿām}, emphasizing total judgment on Jeroboam’s household. The idiom lo hish’ir kol neshamah {לֹא־הִשְׁאִיר כָּל־נְשָׁמָה | lōʾ-hiššîʾîr-kāl-nᵊšāmāh} intensifies completeness by negating any surviving soul. The clause ad hishmido {עַד־הִשְׁמִידוֹ | ʿad hišmîḏô} ‘until he destroyed him’ concludes the action. The prepositional phrase kî-dᵊvar Yahweh {כִּדְבַר יְהוָה | kî-dᵊvar Yə-hō-wāh} ‘according to the word of the LORD’ frames divine mandate, and the relative clauses asher diber {אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר | ʾăšer dîbber} ‘which He spoke’ plus bəyad avdō {בְּיַד־עַבְדּוֹ | bə-yad ʿaḇdô} ‘by the hand of His servant’ identify Ahijah the Shilonite {אֲחִיָּה הַשִּׁילֹנִי | ʾăḥiyyāh ha-šîlônî} as the prophetic mediator, underscoring fulfillment of spoken prophecy. |