| 7. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the third person pronoun hu {הוּא | hûʾ} ‘he’, serving as the subject, followed by the Hiphil perfect verb hikkāh {הִכָּה | hikkāh} ‘struck’, which conveys causative force. The locative construct bĕgēʾ melaḥ {בְּגֵיא־מֶ֙לַח֙ | bə-gēʾ mĕlaḥ} ‘in the Valley of Salt’ precisely situates the action. The construct numeral ʿăseret alāphîm {עֲשֶׂרֶת אֲלָפִים | ʿăseret alāphîm} ‘ten thousand’ functions as direct object quantifier. Sequential vav-consecutives wə-tafaš {וְתָפַשׂ | wə-tafaš} ‘and he captured’ and wayyiqrāʾ {וַיִּקְרָא | wayyiqrāʾ} ‘and he called’ link the capture event to the renaming. The accusative marker ’et {אֶת־ | ʼet} introduces the noun shemāh {שְׁמָהּ | shemāh} ‘its name’, followed by the proper noun yāqeṯʾēl {יָקְתְאֵל | yāqeṯʾēl}. The temporal clause ʿad hayyōm hazzēh {עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה | ʿad hayyōm hazzēh} ‘until this day’ underscores the enduring character of this designation. |