| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative employs vav-consecutive imperfect verbs, first vayishlakh {וַיִּשְׁלַ֥ח | wā-yiš-lā-ḥ} ‘and he sent’ followed by vayikbotz {וַיִּקְבֹּ֥ץ | wā-yiq-bōṣ} ‘and he gathered,’ creating a sequential action flow. The prepositional construct bekhol benei Yisrael {בְּכָל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | bə-ḵōl bə-nē yiś-ra-’ēl} ‘throughout the children of Israel’ emphasizes the communal scope. The direct object marker et {אֶת־ | ’et} marks hanviim {הַנְּבִיאִים | han-nə-vî-’īm} ‘the prophets’ as object. The locative phrase el har hakkarmel {אֶל־הַר הַכַּרְמֶֽל | ’el har ha-kkar-mēl} ‘to Mount Carmel’ specifies the geographic setting. English SVO order reproduces the Hebrew narrative flow while preserving the emphasis on communal gathering and authoritative message. |