| 12. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the narrative verb vayechela {וַיֶּחֱלֶא | wayyeḥelā} ‘and he became ill’, shifting focus to Asa’s health. The temporal construct bishnat šəlōšîm wāṯēšaʿ lə-malḵûtō {בִּשְׁנַת שְׁלוֹשִׁים וָתֵשַׁע לְמַלְכוּתוֹ | bišnāt šəlōšîm wāṯēšaʿ lə-malḵûtō} ‘in the thirty-ninth year of his reign’ establishes the chronological frame. The locative phrase be-raglāyw {בְּרַגְלָיו | bə-raglāyw} ‘in his feet’ specifies where the illness appeared, followed by the degree clause ʿad-lə-maʿālā ḥālyō {עַד־לְמַעְלָה חָלְי֑וֹ | ʿad-lə-maʿālā ḥālyō} ‘until his sickness became very severe’, using ʿad to mark intensity. The conjunction kî {כִּי | kî} introduces lodarash ʾet-Yəhōwāh {לֹא־דָרַשׁ אֶת־יְהוָה | lō dāraš ʾet Yəhōwāh} ‘but he did not seek the LORD’, highlighting his failure despite the critical condition, and the final phrase be-rōp̄êʾîm {בָּרֹפְאִים | bə-rōp̄êʾîm} ‘to the physicians’ emphasizes his misplaced reliance. The English rendering preserves the Hebrew clause order: narrative shift, temporal modifier, locative and result clauses, contrast clause, and comitative opposition. |