| 7. Linguistic Exegesis The temporal clause uvir’ot {וּבִרְאוֹת | û-vî-rôʾṯ} (‘and when saw’) employs the vav-consecutive with a qal infinitive construct to link divine perception to response. The conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} introduces the causal clause with nîk-nāʿû {נִכְנָעוּ | they humbled themselves}, a Nifal perfect emphasizing voluntary submission, repeated to frame the subsequent divine declaration. The phrase dvar-yehôwah {דְבַר־יְהוָה | word of the LORD} functions as the subject of the divine pronouncement to Shemaiah. The idiom kimat lifleitah {כִּמְעַט לִפְלֵיטָה | kim-‘aṭ liph-lê-î-ṯâ} conveys a limited deliverance, preserved in translation by “small measure of deliverance” (formal) and “some escape” (dynamic). The Nifal imperfect velo-tittakh {וְלֹא־תִתַּךְ | wə-lō-tit-takh} underscores the withheld outpouring of chamati {חֲמָתִי | my wrath}. The construct beyad-shishak {בְּיַד־שִׁישַׁק | bə-yad-šî-šaq} precisely locates the averted judgment by the hand of Shishak, the Egyptian pharaoh. |