| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the narrative marker vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wa-yō-mer} ‘and he said,’ signaling direct speech. The interrogative halo yesh lekha {הֲלֹא יֵשׁ־לְךָ | ha·lōʾ yēš le-ḵā} ‘is there not … for you’ introduces the disjunctive objects chanit ve-kherev {חָנִית וְחֶרֶב | ḥā-nîṯ wə-ḥe-reḇ} ‘spear and sword.’ The coordinated conjunction va’ani khaser lo hibbē’tti {וַאֲנִי חָסֵר לֹא הִבֵּאתִי | wa-ʾăn-î ḥā-sēr lōʾ hib-bē-ʾ-tî} ‘and I, lacking, did not bring’ uses the first person perfect to convey David’s admission of unpreparedness. The direct object marker et marks kherbi ve-neshqata {אֶת־חֶרְבִּי וְנְשׁקָתִי | ʾet ḥer-bî wə-nĕ-shā-qā-tî} ‘my sword and my weapons.’ The conjunction kî {כִּי | kî} ‘because’ introduces a genitive construct phrase ma‛ă-lat hamelekh {מַעֲלַת הַמֶּלֶךְ | ma‛ă-lāt ham-me-leḵ} ‘the king’s matter,’ modified by middhapeht {מִדַּחֶפֶת | mid-dá-ḥe-phet} ‘pressing necessity.’ This progression from question to confession to rationale highlights the urgency of the royal business. |