| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with the vav-consecutive verb vayitchazzek {וַיִּתְחַזֵּק | va-yi-ṯ-ḥaz-zēq} ‘and he strengthened himself’, signaling sequential action in the Hitpael. The proper name Abiyahu {אֲבִיָּהוּ | ʾă-vi-ya-hu} immediately follows as subject. A string of vav-consecutive/Qal imperfect clauses (vayissa {וַיִּשָּׂא | va-yi-sā-ʾ} ‘and he took’, veyoled {וְיוֹלֶד | wə-yo-lēḏ} ‘and he fathered’) lays out Abijah’s personal activities. Numerals appear in construct or coordinate structures: arba-esreh {אַרְבַּע־עֶשְׂרֵה | ar-ba-ʿe-se-rē} ‘fourteen’ bound by maqef, esrim ushnayim {עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁנַיִם | ʿeś-rîm ū-šə-na-yim} ‘twenty and two’, ushesh esreh {וּשֵׁשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה | ū-šēš ʿe-se-rē} ‘sixteen’. The pairing of banim {בָּנִים | ba-nîm} ‘sons’ and banot {בָּנוֹת | ba-not} ‘daughters’ underscores royal progeny. The Hebrew VSO order is rendered in English SVO to preserve clarity while maintaining the narrative sequence. |