| 26. Linguistic Exegesis The verse uses parallelism with vav-consecutive verbs vayyelekh {וַיֵּלֶךְ | wăyyēleḵ} ‘and he went’ and vayhi {וַיְהִי | wayhî} ‘and it came to pass,’ framing two simultaneous movements along mitsad hahar mizeh {מִצַּד הָהָר מִזֶּה | miṣṣad hāhār mīzeh} ‘along the side of the mountain.’ The Niphal participle nachpaz {נָחְפָז | nāḥpāz} with the infinitive lalekhet {לָלֶכֶת | lāleḵeṯ} intensifies David’s flight, while the active participle odim {עוֹדִים | ʽōḏîm} conveys the pursuers’ continuous action. The purpose clause le-tafsham {לְתָפְשָׂם | ləṯāp̄ēšām} indicates intent. The English rendering preserves the symmetrical structure to highlight the escalating pursuit. |