| 29. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with the vav consecutive verb vayishkav {וַיִּשְׁכַּב | wă-yĭš-ḵaḇ} ‘and he lay down’, a standard royal death idiom. The prepositional phrase im avotav {עִם־אֲבֹתָיו | ʿim-ʼă-vō-ṯā-v} ‘with his fathers’ aligns the deceased king with his predecessors. A second preposition im {עִם | ʿim} introduces malkhei Yisra’el {מַלְכֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל | mal-khê yi-srā-ʼēl} ‘the kings of Israel’, broadening the ancestral group. The next vav consecutive verb vayimloch {וַיִּמְלֹךְ | wă-yĭm-lōḵ} ‘and he reigned’ signals dynastic succession. With beno {בְּנוֹ | bə-nō} ‘his son’ as the subject, the prepositional phrase takhtav {תַּחְתָּיו | taḥ-tā-v} ‘in his place’ designates the transfer of authority. The sequence of royal death followed by immediate enthronement underscores dynastic continuity and legitimacy in the Deuteronomistic history. |