| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse features a sequence of vav-consecutive verbs—vayavo’u {וַיָּבֹאוּ | vā-ya-wō-’ū} “they came,” vayyittetzuhu {וַיִּתְּצֻהוּ | vā-yit-te-ṣū-hū} “they demolished it,” shiberu {שִׁבֵּרוּ | šiḇ-ḇê-rû} “they broke,” and hargu {הָרְגוּ | hā-rə-gū} “they killed”—which drives rapid action and communal zeal. The construct beit-habba‘al {בֵּית־הַבַּעַל | bêyt ha-Ba‘al} situates the destruction at Baal’s shrine, while the object marker et {אֶת | ’et} marks each target—mizbechotav {מִזְבְּחֹתָיו | miz-be-ḥō-ṯāw} and tzelamav {צְלָמָיו | tze-lā-māw}—underscoring total eradication of Baal’s cult. The prepositional phrase lifnei ha-mizbechot {לִפְנֵי הַמִּזְבְּחוֹת | lif-nê ha-miz-be-ḥō-ṯ} places Mattan’s execution at the cultic center. English syntax preserves the Hebrew chaining and verb order to maintain narrative momentum. |