| 34. Linguistic Exegesis The opening vav-consecutive Qal imperfect vayomer {וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | va-yō-mer} ‘and he said’ introduces David’s direct speech. The prepositional phrase ʾel-šā-ʾûl {אֶל־שָׁא֔וּל | ʾel-šā-ʾûl} ‘to Saul’ frames the audience, followed by the nominal clause rōʿeh hayah ʿaḇdêkā {רֹעֶה הָיָ֧ה עַבְדְּךָ֛ | rōʿeh hāyâ ʿaḇ-dê-kā} ‘a shepherd was your servant’, combining a participle and perfect verb to convey habitual past action. The adversarial agents are introduced by ūbā {וּבָ֤א | ū-ḇā} ‘and came’ with the coordinated expression hā-ʾă-rî wə-ʾeṯ-had-dōḇ {הָֽאֲרִי וְאֶת־הַדּ֔וֹב | hā-ʾă-rî wə-ʾeṯ-had-dōḇ} ‘the lion and the bear’. The result clause marked by wənāsāʾ {וְנָשָׂ֥א | wə-nā-sāʾ} ‘and carried off’ focuses on the action against the sheep, with the direct object marker ʾeṯ {אֶת | ʾeṯ} specifying the victim and the phrase mēhā-ʾê-der {מֵהָעֵֽדֶר | mē-hā-ʾê-der} ‘from the flock’ indicating its source. This VSO narrative sequence is rendered into clear SVO English, preserving emphasis and temporal progression. |