| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The verse advances by a chain of preterite wayyiqtol forms, moving the action forward in quick succession: vayifnu {וַיִּפְנ֣וּ | wayyip̄nû} ‘and they turned’ introduces Judah’s sudden reorientation, and vehinneh {וְהִנֵּ֨ה | wə-hinnēh} ‘and behold’ marks an abrupt discovery. The clause “the battle, front and behind” uses panim {פָּנִ֣ים | pā-nîm} ‘front’ and veachor {וְאָחֹ֔ור | wə-ʾā-ḥōr} ‘behind’ as a paired spatial frame to stress encirclement and urgency. The response is immediate: vayitzaku {וַיִּצְעֲק֖וּ | wayyiṣʿă-qû} ‘and they cried out’ takes the lamed-object laYHWH {לַיהוָ֑ה | la-Yahweh} ‘to the LORD’, highlighting a direct appeal for divine intervention. The closing phrase is participial, portraying concurrent action: “and the priests … with the trumpets.” The presence of both mchatsotsrim {מחצצרים | məḥaṣṣəṣərîm} (ketiv) and machatzrim {מַחְצְרִ֖ים | maḥṣə-rîm} (qere) reflects a written/read tradition around the same idea of trumpet-blowing; in English this is rendered once as a single coordinated action to preserve sense and avoid redundancy while keeping the Hebrew’s emphasis on an alarm-like, priestly signal. |