| 30. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive Qal imperfect vayyiḥar {וַיִּחַר | wayyīḥar} ‘and he burned,’ compounded with sha’ul {שָׁאוּל | šāʾûl} to signal Saul’s sudden wrath. The prepositional phrase beyonatan {בְּיוֹנָתָן | bǝ-yōnāṯān} ‘against Jonathan’ identifies the target of that anger. The vav-consecutive imperfect vayyomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wayyōmer} ‘and he said’ introduces the direct insult. The compound ben-naqam u-meromah {בֶּן־נָקָם וּמְרוֹמָה | ben-nāqām u-mərōmāh} uses coordinated nouns for intensified reproach. The rhetorical question ha’im lo yadati {הַאִם לֹא יָדַעְתִּי | hāʾim lōʾ yāḏaʿtī} ‘is it not that I knew’ emphasizes Saul’s certainty. The construct chain ben-yishai benukha {בֶּן-יִשַׁי בְּנֻךָ | ben-yišay bǝnukhā} ‘son of Jesse, your son’ underscores Jonathan’s lineage. Finally, the idiomatic triplet bǝshaqut lə-bāšāl ū-lə-maʿarpêḵā {בְּשַׁקּוּת לְבָשָׁל וּלְמַעַרְפֵּךָ | bəšaqqût lə-bāšāl ū-lə-maʿarpêḵā} contrasts outward calm with deep humiliation, rendered in English by a parallel structure to preserve the Hebrew idiom. |