| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with halo {הֲלֹא | hălōʾ} ‘is it not’, a rhetorical question that presses the audience toward agreement rather than requesting information. The sequence lachem ladaat {לָכֶם לָדַעַת | lāḵem lādaʿat} forms an infinitival construction expressing obligation or appropriateness (“for you to know”). Ki {כִּי | kî} introduces the content of what they must recognize, with the subject named as Yahweh elohei yisrael {יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל | Yə-hō-wāh ʾĕlōhê yiśrāʾēl} ‘the LORD, the God of Israel’; the paseq ( ׀ ) visually heightens the divine name before the title. The main predication is carried by natan {נָתַן | nāṯan} ‘he gave/granted’, whose direct object mamlakhah {מַמְלָכָה | mamlāḵāh} ‘kingdom/kingship’ is followed by recipient and scope phrases: leDavid {לְדָוִד | ləḏāwîḏ} marks the beneficiary, while al-yisrael {עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל | ʿal-yiśrāʾēl} specifies dominion (“over Israel”). The span leolam lo ulevanav {לְעוֹלָם לוֹ וּלְבָנָיו | ləʿōlām lô ûləḇānāw} expands the grant’s duration (“forever”) and its dynastic extension (“to him and to his sons”). The closing construct expression berit melach {בְּרִית מֶלַח | bərît melaḥ} ‘covenant of salt’ functions appositionally to ground the royal grant in an idiom of enduring, preserved commitment, which English renders as a covenant formula while keeping the interrogative force prominent. |