| 22. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the narrative marker vehayah {וְהָיָה֙ | wə-hā-yāh} ‘and it came to pass,’ followed by the temporal phrase beyom milchemet {בְּי֣וֹם מִלְחֶ֔מֶת | bə-yôm mil-ḥe-met} ‘on the day of battle.’ The negative velo nimtza {וְלֹ֨א נִמְצָ֜א | wə-lōʾ nim-ṣāʾ} introduces absence of the coordinated nouns cherev {חֶרֶב | ḥe-reḇ} va-ḥă-nîṯ {וַחֲנִית֙ | va-ḥă-nîṯ} ‘sword and spear.’ The possessive phrase be-yaḏ kol-hā-ʿām {בְּיַ֣ד כָּל־הָעָ֔ם | bə-yaḏ kol-hā-ʿām} ‘in the hand of all the people’ is qualified by the relative pronoun ʾă-šer {אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾă-šer} ‘who.’ The disjunctive vav introduces vatimmatze {וַתִּמָּצֵ֣א | va-tim-mā-ṣēʾ} marking a contrasting result, and the lə- prefixes in lə-Šāʼûl {לְשָׁא֔וּל | lə-Šāʼûl} and ū-lə-Yōnāṯān {וּלְיוֹנָתָ֖ן | ū-lə-Yōnāṯān} indicate beneficiary relationships, rendered “for” in English. This structure emphasizes the anomalous exclusivity of weapon availability with Saul and Jonathan. |