| 25. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs a series of vav-consecutive imperfect verbs to depict sequential military actions, beginning with vayashav {וַיָּשָׁב | wayyāšāḇ} and vayikkach {וַיִּקַּח | wayyiqqaḥ}, which introduce restoration and seizure events. The direct object marker et {אֶת־ | ʾet} precedes he’arim {הֶעָרִים | hē‘ārîm}, specifying “the cities.” A construct chain miyad ben-hadad ben-chazael {מִיַּד בֶּן־הֲדַד בֶּן־חֲזָאֵל | miyyad ben-Hăḏad ben-Ḥăzā’ēl} indicates the source as “from the hand of Ben-Hadad son of Hazael.” The relative clause introduced by asher {אֲשֶׁר | ’ăšer} links back to “cities,” clarifying they were previously taken by lakach {לָקַח | lāqaḥ} from Jehoahaz aviv {אָבִיו | ’āḇîw}. The temporal phrase ba-milchamah {בַּמִּלְחָמָה | bammilḥāmāh} establishes the context of war, followed by shalosh peamim hikahu {שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים הִכָּהוּ | šālōš pə‘āmîm hikkāhû}, a numerical expression of threefold victory. The final vav-consecutive vayyashev {וַיָּשֶׁב | wayyāšeḇ} reaffirms the restoration theme. English translation preserves verb sequences for narrative flow, reordering only for natural readability while maintaining the original emphasis on military causality. |