| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive verb vayechi {וַיְחִ֨י | wayyĕḥî} ‘and he lived’, which carries forward the narrative. The construct Amatsyahu ben Yoash melech Yehudah {אֲמַצְיָהוּ בֶן־יוֹאָשׁ מֶ֣לֶךְ יְהוּדָה | ʾămaṣ·yāhû ben yō·’āš mé·leḵ yəhû·ḏāh} establishes Amaziah’s dynastic identity by linking sonship and royal title. The prepositional phrase acharei mot {אַֽחֲרֵי מ֔וֹת | ʾăḥărê mōṯ} ‘after the death’ introduces a temporal clause, followed by the numeral construct khamesh esreh shanah {חֲמֵ֥שׁ עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה שָׁנָֽה | ḥămēšʾ ʿəśrê šānāh} ‘fifteen years’, where the English plural “years” reflects Hebrew agreement with the numeral. The arrangement places the duration after the temporal marker, mirroring Hebrew word order, and the vav-consecutive highlights the continuity of Amaziah’s life after Jehoash’s demise. |