| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive imperfect verb vayya‘aseh {וַיַּעֲשֶׂה | wayya‘ăśśêh} ‘and he made’, marking sequential narrative action that foregrounds Jonathan’s role. The proper name yehonatan {יְהוֹנָתָן | yəhōnāṯān} functions as the subject. The noun berit {בְּרִית | berîṯ} serves as the direct object within the prepositional phrase ʿim bêṯ dāwîd {עִם־בֵּית דָּוִד | ʿim bêṯ dāwîd}, specifying the covenantal party. The infinitive construct lēʾmôr {לֵאמֹר | lēʾmôr} ‘saying’ introduces two jussive clauses: yiqrāʾ {יִקְרָא | yiqrāʾ} ‘may he call’ and wəḵillēm {וְכִלֵּם | wəḵillēm} ‘and may he destroy them’, expressing a petition to the divine subject. This construction preserves the Hebrew VSO order while shifting to English SVO, emphasizing both the covenant action and the invoked divine judgment. |