| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with vatehi {וַתְּהִי | və-tə-ḥî} ‘and was’, a vav-consecutive Qal imperfect marking sequential action. The definite noun phrase hamakkah harishonah {הַמַּכָּה הָרִאשֹׁנָה | ham-māqqāh hā-riš-šō-nāh} ‘the first blow’ forms a construct chain emphasizing the initial event. The relative clause introduced by asher hikkah {אֲשֶׁר הִכָּה | ʾă-šer hiqqāh} ‘that he struck’ identifies Jonathan as the agent. The coordinated phrase yō-nā-tān wə-nō-śē kē-lāw {יוֹנָתָן וְנֹשֵׂא כֵלָיו | yō-nā-tān wə-nō-śē kē-lāw} ‘Jonathan and his armor-bearer’ pairs the principal warrior and his assistant. The expression kə-ʿeś-rîm ʾîš {כְּעֶשְׂרִים אִישׁ | kə-ʿeś-rîm ʾîš} ‘about twenty men’ uses prepositional approximation ke- before the numeral. The phrase kə-va-ḥă-ṣî ma-ʿă-nāh ṣē-meḏ šā-deh {כְּבַחֲצִי מַעֲנָה צֶמֶד שָׂדֶה | kə-va-ḥă-ṣî ma-ʿă-nāh ṣē-meḏ šā-deh} ‘about half a furrow of a field yoke’ employs nested constructs to specify an agricultural measurement. English renders the Hebrew order of action, agent, and measurement into a cohesive narrative sequence. |