| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with vayomer {וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | wayyōmer} ‘and he said’, employing the vav consecutive to indicate past narrative. The construct chain melech Yisrael {מֶֽלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | mêleḵ yiśrāʼēl} identifies the speaker, and the prepositional phrase el Yehoshaphat {אֶל־יְהוֹשָׁפָ֑ט | ʼel yəhōšāp̄āṭ} marks the addressee. The interrogative halo {הֲלֹא֙ | hălōʼ} introduces a rhetorical question, followed by amarti {אָמַ֣רְתִּי | ʼāmartī} ‘I said’. The negative lo {לֹא־ | lōʼ} precedes the hithpael imperfect yitnabe {יִתְנַבֵּ֥א | yittənaḇbēʼ} ‘he will prophesy’, with tov {ט֖וֹב | ṭôḇ} ‘good’ as the anticipated outcome. The conjunction ki {כִּ֥י | kî} combined with im {אִם־ | ʼim} establishes an exclusive contrast, leading to lera {לְרָֽע | lə-rāʼ} ‘for evil’ as the sole fulfillment. The chiastic pairing of “good” and “evil” underscores the king’s ironic complaint. |