| 7. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with wayyomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wayyōʾmēr} ‘and he said’, signaling direct speech addressed elav {אֵלָיו | ʾēlāyw} ‘to him’. The speaker, shaul {שָׁאוּל | šāʼûl}, establishes two parallel protases with the conditional particle im {אִם | ʾim} ‘if’, first presenting tōv {טוֹב | tōḇ} ‘good’ and then rāʿāh {רָעָה | rāʿāh} ‘bad’ as evaluative predicates. The idiom le-einekha {לְעֵינֶיךָ | lᵊʿênēkā} ‘in your eyes’ personalizes the test. The particle hinnēh {הִנֵּה | hinnēh} ‘behold’ introduces a paired imperative response (šəlōaḥ {שְׁלֹחַ | šəlōaḥ} ‘send’ + hāsēr {הָסֵר | hāsēr} ‘remove’), softened by the entreaty particle nāʾ {נָא | nāʾ}. Finally, the imperfect wə-šillāḥtîyhû {וְשִׁלַּחְתִּיהוּ | wə-šillāḥtîyhû} ‘and I will send him’ signals the speaker’s promised action. The protasis–apodosis structure maintains clarity of the sign test and prescribed response. |