| 49. Linguistic Exegesis The verse unfolds through a series of vav-consecutive verbs—vayyishlach {וַיִּשְׁלַח | wayyišlāḥ} ‘and he sent’, vayyikach {וַיִּקַּח | wayyīqāḥ} ‘and he took’, vayyekalla {וַיְקַלַּע | wayyikallaʿ} ‘and he slung’, and vayyakh {וַיַּךְ | wayyāḵ} ‘and he struck’—which drive the rapid narrative. The construct et yado el hakkeli {אֶת־יָדֹו אֶל־הַכֶּלִי | ʾet yādô ʾel ha-kēlî} signals deliberate movement toward the sling pouch. The phrase misham even {מִשָּׁם אֶבֶן | mīšām ʾēḇen} specifies origin and object selection. The verb watitbaʿ {וַתִּטְבַּע | wa-tiṭbāʿ} ‘and it sank’ vividly portrays the stone embedding itself, while vayyipol {וַיִּפֹּל | wayyippōl} ‘and he fell’ in alpanav ertsah {עַל־פָּנָיו אָרְצָה | ʿal-pānāw ʾerṣāh} depicts the Philistine’s collapse. The direct subject–verb sequencing preserves the Hebrew’s dramatic immediacy in English. |