| 7. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with ki {כִּי | kî} ‘for/because’ and the negative particle lo {לֹא | lô} preceding the Hiphil perfect hish’îr {הִשְׁאִיר | hiš-ʼîr} ‘he left behind’, forming the main clause. The beneficiary Jehoahaz is marked by the prepositional phrase li-yeho’aḥaz {לִיהוֹאָחָז | li-yə-hô-ʼā-ḥaz} ‘to Jehoahaz’ with ʿam {עָם | ʿam} ‘people’ as its object. A second ki {כִּי | kî} ‘for’ introduces the exception clause with the particle ʾim-ḥamiššîm {אִם־חֲמִשִּׁים | ʾim-ḥa-miš-šîm} ‘except fifty’. The coordinated list employs the vav-consecutive constructions wa-ʿăsārāh {וַעֲשָׂרָה | wa-ʿă-sā-rā} and wa-ʿăśeret {וַעֲשֶׂרֶת | wa-ʿă-se-ret} to link pārašîm {פָּרָשִׁים | pā-rā-šîm} ‘horsemen’, reḵev {רֶכֶב | re-ḵeḇ} ‘chariots’, ʾălāp̄îm {אֲלָפִים | ʾa-lā-p̄îm} ‘thousands’, and raġlê {רַגְלִי | raġ-lê} ‘foot soldiers’. The causal clause again begins with ki {כִּי | kî} ‘for’ and the Piel perfect ʾibbēḏām {אִבְּדָם | ʾib-bē-ḏām} ‘he destroyed them’, with mêleḵ ʾArām {מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם | me-leḵ ʾa-rām} ‘king of Aram’ as subject. The vav-consecutive imperfect wayyĕsimêm {וַיְשִׂמֵם | wa-yĕ-si-mêm} ‘and he made them’ governs the simile kĕ-ʿāp̄ār lā-duš {כֶּעָפָר לָדֻשׁ | kĕ-ʿā-p̄ār lā-duš} ‘like dust to be trampled’, a vivid idiom signifying total ruin. The English structure maintains the causal progression and places the climactic simile at the end for emphasis. |