| 50. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive imperfect verb vayyechezak {וַיֶּחֱזַ֨ק | va-ye-ḥă-zaq} ‘and he prevailed,’ signaling decisive action. The prepositional phrase min-haplishti {מִן־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי֙ | min ha-pə-lish-tî} ‘over the Philistine’ expresses opposition. Instrumentality is marked by the coordinated phrases bakele‘ {בַּקֶּ֣לַע | ba-qə-lă‘} ‘with the sling’ and uvaeven {וּבָאֶ֔בֶן | u-vā-’e-ḇen} ‘and with the stone.’ Narrative continuity is maintained by the chained vav-consecutive verbs vayyakh {וַיַּ֥ךְ | va-yak} ‘and he struck’ and vayye-mitehu {וַיְמִיתֵ֑הוּ | va-yə-mî-tē-hū} ‘and he killed him,’ with et {אֶת־ | ’et} marking the direct object. The nominal clause vecherev ’ēn beyad-dāwîd {וְחֶ֖רֶב אֵ֥ין בְּיַד־דָּוִֽד | və-ḥe-reḇ ’ēn bə-yaḏ-dā-wîd} ‘and a sword was not in the hand of David’ underscores the absence of conventional arms and highlights the theological theme of empowerment beyond human weaponry. |