| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with vayyiqqəḥû {וַיִּקְח֞וּ | vayyiqqəḥû} ‘and they took’, where the vav-consecutive signals sequential narrative action. The construct kol-am Yehûdâ {כָּל־עַ֤ם יְהוּדָה֙ | kol-ʿam Yehûdâ} ‘all the people of Judah’ expresses totality. The particle ʾet {אֶת־ | ʾet} marks the proper name ʿăzaryâ {עֲזַרְיָ֔ה | ʿăzaryâ} as direct object. The conjunction-pronoun və-hûʾ {וְה֕וּא | və-hûʾ} ‘and he’ introduces the age clause ben šêš-ʿeś-rēh šānâ {בֶּן־שֵׁ֥שׁ עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה שָׁנָ֑ה | ben šêš-ʿeś-rēh šānâ} ‘son of sixteen years’. The following vav-consecutive verb vayyamlikhû {וַיַּמְלִ֣כוּ | vayyamlikhû} ‘and they made king’ takes the object ʾōṯô {אֹת֔וֹ | ʾōṯô} ‘him’ and the prepositional phrase ṭaḥaṯ ʾāḇîw {תַּ֖חַת אָבִ֥יו | ṭaḥaṯ ʾāḇîw} ‘instead of his father’ to indicate succession. The paired vav-consecutive clauses convey immediacy, and the English translation preserves the Hebrew temporal sequencing and causative nuance. |