| 18. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs successive vav-consecutive verbs—vayehi {וַיְהִי | wayəhî} ‘and it came to pass’, wayyāḇōʾ {וַיָּבֹא | wayyāḇōʾ} ‘and he went’, wayyisrôp {וַיִּשְׂרֹף | wayyisrôp} ‘and he burned’, wayyāmmōṯ {וַיָּמֹת | wayyāmmōṯ} ‘and he died’—to convey rapid narrative progression. The infinitive construct kîrʾôt {כִּרְא֤וֹת | kîrʾôṯ} introduces a temporal clause marking Zimri’s reaction to the city’s capture. The noun phrase ʾel-ʾarmon bêṯ-hammeleḵ {אֶל־אַרְמ֣וֹן בֵּית־הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ | ʾel-ʾarmon bêṯ-hammeleḵ} denotes the fortified royal palace. The prepositional ʿālāyw {עָלָ֧יו | ʿālāyw} ‘upon him’ highlights self-destructive intent, and the direct object marker ʾet-bêṯ-meleḵ {אֶת־בֵּֽית־מֶ֛לֶךְ | ʾet-bêṯ-meleḵ} focuses the burning action on the palace itself. English preserves the Hebrew temporal sequence and causal link with “when” and the cause-effect order. |