| 36. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with vayomer {וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | wə-yō-mər} ‘and he said,’ the vav consecutive plus Qal imperfect third person masculine singular marking sequential narrative. Saul then issues cohortative commands, nerdeh {נֵרְדָ֣ה | nēr-dāh} ‘let us go down’ and venāḇōzah {וְֽנָבֹ֥זָה | wə-nā-ḇō-zāh} ‘let us plunder,’ expressing collective strategic intent. The temporal frame ʿad-’ôr {עַד־אוֹר | ʿad-’ôr} ‘until light’ with ha-bōqēr {הַבֹּקֶר | ha-bō-qēr} ‘the morning’ defines the span of action. The negative cohortative wə-lō-nāšeʾêr {וְלֹֽא־נַשְׁאֵ֤ר | wə-lō-nā-šeʾêr} ‘and let us not leave’ enforces total victory. The deferential idiom kol-ha-ṭōv {כָּל־הַטּ֥וֹב | kol-ha-ṭōv} ‘all that is good’ + bə-’ê-nê-khā {בְּעֵינֶ֖יךָ | bə-’ê-nê-khā} ‘in your eyes’ signals acquiescence to Saul’s judgment. In the priest’s speech halom {הֲלֹם | ha-lôm} ‘here’ serves as an emphatic locative, and niqərbāh {נִקְרְבָ֥ה | ni-qər-bāh} ‘let us draw near’ + ’el-hā-’ĕlōhîm {אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִֽים | ’el-hā-’ĕ-lō-hîm} formulates the standard appeal to the divine for guidance. The English translation follows Hebrew word order where possible, rendering cohortatives as imperatives and retaining Hebrew idioms in idiomatic English structure. |