| 7. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the chronological phrase u-vishnat shalosh le-malkho {וּבִשְׁנַ֨ת שָׁל֜וֹשׁ לְמָלְכ֗וֹ | ū-višnāt šālōš lə-malkō} ‘in the third year of his reign,’ establishing temporal context. The verb shalach {שָׁלַ֤ח | šālaḥ} ‘he sent’ governs a series of recipients introduced by the preposition le {לְ}. The infinitive construct le-lammed {לְלַמֵּ֖ד | lə-lam-mēd} expresses purpose ‘to teach.’ The locative construct be-arei Yehudah {בְּעָרֵ֥י יְהוּדָֽה | bə-ʿā-rē Yə-hū-dāh} ‘in the towns of Judah’ specifies place. The sequence time → verb → recipients → purpose → place follows standard Hebrew narrative order. The coordinated names with vav-conjunctions ensure equal emphasis, and the English rendering preserves this structure while grouping the names for readability and maintaining the infinitive purpose directly before the location. |