| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive marker vayhi {וַיְהִ֞י | way-yə-hî} ‘and it happened’, which, together with the participle kovrim {קֹבְרִ֣ים | qōvrîm} ‘burying’, establishes an ongoing action. The interjection vehineh {וְהִנֵּה֙ | wəhin-nēh} ‘behold’ signals an abrupt turn as ra’u {רָא֣וּ | rāʾû} ‘they saw’ introduces the hagedud {הַגְּד֔וּד | ha-ged-dûd} ‘the band’. The Hiphil vav-consecutive vayashlichu {וַיַּשְׁלִ֥יכוּ | way-yash-lî-ḵû} ‘and they threw’ punctuates the narrative interruption. The construct expression b’kever Elisha {בְּקֶבֶר אֱלִישָׁע | bə-qe-ver ʾĕ-lî-šāʿ} ‘into the tomb of Elisha’ uses a prepositional chain to denote location. The narrative returns to the object with vayiga {וַיִּגַּ֤ע | way-yig-gaʿ} ‘and he touched’ and the noun batsmot {בְּעַצְמוֹת | bə-ʿaṣ-mōt} ‘bones’, leading immediately to the sequence vayechi {וַיְחִי | way-ye-ḥî} ‘and he lived’ and vayakom {וַיָּקָם | way-yā-qām} ‘and he stood up’, which together underscore the instantaneous restoration. The English rendition preserves the chain of vav-consecutives and the Hebrew prepositional structures to mirror the drama and theological emphasis of the original. |