| 1. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the regnal-age idiom ben-sheva shanim {בֶּן־שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים | bēn-ševaʿ šānîm} ‘son of seven years,’ a nominal expression that states age by placing “son” before the number. The sequence yoash be-malkho {יֹאָשׁ בְּמָלְכּוֹ | yôʾāš bə-malkô} functions temporally: the prepositional phrase ‘in his reign’ signals the beginning point of kingship (accession) rather than describing the entire reign. The next clause fronts the duration wə-ʾarbāʿîm šānāh {וְאַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה | wə-ʾarbāʿîm šānāh} ‘and forty year’ before the finite verb mālaḵ {מָלַךְ | mālaḵ} ‘he reigned,’ giving prominence to the length of rule. Location is then specified by bîrûšālāyim {בִּירוּשָׁלָ͏ִם | bîrûšālāyim} ‘in Jerusalem.’ A final coordinated clause identifies maternal lineage and origin: wə-šēm ʾimmô {וְשֵׁם אִמּוֹ | wə-šēm ʾimmô} ‘and the name of his mother,’ followed by the mother’s name and the provenance phrase ‘from Beer Sheba.’ English renders the initial nominal age expression with an explicit verb (“was” / “became king”) while preserving the Hebrew emphasis on reign-length and the closing identification formula. |