| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse advances the battle narrative through a chain of wayyiqtol forms: vayyakku {וַיַּכּ֥וּ | wayyaqqû} ‘and they struck’ drives the action forward, and wayyippelu {וַיִּפְּל֣וּ | wayyippəlû} ‘and they fell’ presents the immediate result. The prepositional phrase bahem {בָהֶ֖ם | bāhem} specifies the opponents as the direct target of the attack, while the coordinated subject aviyyahu weammo {אֲבִיָּ֑הוּ וְעַמּ֖וֹ | ʾăvîyāhû wə-ʿammô} highlights that the king and his forces act together. The noun phrase makkah rabbah {מַכָּ֣ה רַבָּ֑ה | makkâh rabbâh} intensifies the outcome by portraying the strike as a severe, battle-deciding blow. The clause then shifts perspective to Israel’s losses: chalalim {חֲלָלִ֔ים | ḥălālîm} functions as a casualty label (“the slain”), and the source phrase miyyisrael {מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | miyyisrāʾēl} identifies which side suffered the dead. The large figure is expressed with a Hebrew counting construction, chamesh-meot elef {חֲמֵשׁ־מֵא֥וֹת אֶ֛לֶף | ḥămēš-mēʾōṯ ʾelep̄} (‘five hundred thousand’), followed by ish bahurim {אִ֖ישׁ בָּחוּרִֽים | ʾîš bāḥûrîm}, a collective-plus-descriptor that presents the dead as able-bodied young men, underscoring the scale and severity of Israel’s defeat. |