| 19. Linguistic Exegesis The clause opens with two wayyiqtol forms, vayirdof {וַיִּרְדֹּף | wa-yirḏōp̄} ‘and he pursued’ followed by vayilqod {וַיִּלְכֹּד | wa-yilqōḏ} ‘and he captured,’ presenting rapid, sequential battlefield action. The preposition acharei {אַחֲרֵי | ʾaḥărê} ‘after’ tightly links the chase to Jeroboam as the immediate target. After the general object arim {עָרִים | ʿārîm} ‘cities,’ the verse shifts into an accumulative list marked by repeated ʾet {אֶת | ʾet}, a discourse pattern that foregrounds each captured location one by one. The expression benot {בְּנוֹת | bə-nōṯ} ‘daughters’ is a conventional settlement metaphor for dependent towns attached to a principal city; the repeated “city + its daughters” structure clarifies that Abijah’s gains included both the main centers and their associated communities. The placement of ephron {עֶפְרוֹן | ʿeprōn} alongside ephrayim {עֶפְרַיִן | ʿeprayin} signals an appositional double name, which is represented in English with a parenthetical to keep both designations in view without breaking the list pattern. |