| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the idiomatic age expression ben-arba'im u-shtayim {בֶּן־אַרְבָּעִ֨ים וּשְׁתַּיִם | bĕn-ʾarbaʿîm wə-šə-ṯá-yim} ‘son of forty and two’, where the numeral phrase precedes the noun shanah {שָׁנָה֙ | šā-nâh} ‘year’. The proper name ahazyahu {אֲחַזְיָ֣הוּ | ʾă-ḥa-zyā-hû} serves as the subject of the prepositional clause be-malko {בְמָלְכ֔וֹ | bə-mál-kô} ‘in his reign’, marking the commencement of his kingship. The conjunction we-shanah {וְשָׁנָ֣ה | wə-šā-nâh} links this temporal marker to the summary, where achat {אַחַ֔ת | ʾă-ḥat} modifies the verb malak {מָלַ֖ךְ | mā-laḵ} ‘reigned’ in the locative bi-rushalayim {בִּֽירוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם | bə-rū-šā-lā-yim} ‘in Jerusalem’. Finally, the verbless clause we-shem immo {וְשֵׁ֣ם אִמּ֔וֹ | wə-šēm ʾim-mō} ‘and the name of his mother’ introduces Athaliah’s matronymic identification with omri {עָמְרִי | ʿom-rî}. The concise, formulaic structure reflects the Deuteronomistic historian’s chronological record style. |