| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The verse consists of two coordinate clauses. In the first clause, the conjunction ve {וְ | wə} attaches to the proper noun dawid {דָוִד | dāwîd} ‘and David,’ followed by the copular pronoun hu {הוּא | hûʾ} and the predicate nominal ha-qatan {הַקָּטָן | ha-qā-tān} ‘the youngest,’ forming an equative statement. The second clause begins with the cardinal numeral u-sheloshah {וּשְׁלֹשָׁה | ū-šə-lō-šāh} ‘and three,’ modified by the definite adjective ha-gedolim {הַגְּדֹלִים | ha-gə-dō-lîm} ‘the oldest,’ as the subject, followed by the verb haleku {הָלְכוּ | hā-lə-ḵû} ‘went’ and the prepositional phrase akharey {אַחֲרֵי | ʾă-ḥă-rê} ‘after’ plus the proper noun shaul {שָׁאוּל | šā-ʾûl}. The parallel structure highlights the contrast between David’s relative youth and the prominence of his older brothers, while the prepositional phrase indicates directional following in the narrative sequence. |