| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with ve-et {וְאֵת | wə-ʾēṯ} ‘definite object marker’, specifying Amaziah as the direct object. The construct chain a-matsyahu mèlekh-yəhūdāh ben-yəhōāš ben-ʾaḥazyāhû establishes royal lineage. The perfect verb tāphaṣ {תָּפַשׂ | tāphaṣ} ‘he seized’ precedes its subject yəhōāš mèlekh-yiśrāʾēl, reflecting Hebrew verb-initial narrative style. The vav-consecutive verbs wayyāḇōʾ {וַיָּבֹא | wayyāḇōʾ} ‘and he came’ and wayyip̄rôṣ {וַיִּפְרֹץ | wayyip̄rôṣ} ‘and he broke open’ signal successive actions. Spatial relations are defined by bə-bēt šemeš {בְּבֵית־שֶׁמֶשׁ | bə-bēt šemeš} ‘at Beth Shemesh’, then bə-ḥōmāṯ yərūšālayim {בְּחוֹמַת יְרוּשָׁלִַם | bə-ḥōmāṯ yərūšālayim} ‘in the wall of Jerusalem’, with endpoints be-šaʿar ʾeprāyim {בְּשַׁעַר אֶפְרַיִם | bə-šaʿar ʾeprāyim} ‘from the Ephraim Gate’ and ʿad-šaʿar hapinnāh {עַד־שַׁעַר הַפִּנָּה | ʿad-šaʿar hapinnāh} ‘to the Corner Gate’. The numeric phrase arbaʿ mêʾōt ʾammāh {אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת אַמָּה | arbaʿ mêʾōt ʾammāh} quantifies the breach following Hebrew multiplicative structure. In English, “then” and “and” map the vav-consecutive sequence to preserve temporal flow. |