| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the temporal construct bishnat {בִּשְׁנַ֨ת | biš-nāt} ‘in the year of’ followed by the cardinal compound esrim vashesh shanah {עֶשְׂרִ֤ים וָשֵׁשׁ֙ שָׁנָ֔ה | ʿeṣ-rîm vā-šēš šā-nāh} functioning as an ordinal expression. The genitive chain le’asa melech yehudah {לְאָסָ֖א מֶ֣לֶךְ יְהוּדָ֑ה | lə-’ā-sā me-leḵ yə-hū-dāh} situates the date with Asa’s reign. The Qal perfect verb malakh {מָ֠לַךְ | mā-laḵ} conveys accession, and the prepositional phrase al-yisrael {עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל | ʿal-Yis-rā-ʾēl} indicates the scope of rule. The locative betirtzah {בְּתִרְצָ֖ה | bə-Tir-ṣāh} marks the royal seat. The dual noun shenatayim {שְׁנָתָֽיִם | šə-nā-tā-yim} specifies the duration of two complete years. The Hebrew VSO order is rendered in English as a clear SVO sequence to preserve the narrative flow. |