| 12. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative employs a sequence of vav-consecutive verbs to convey immediate action: vayavo {וַיָּבֹא | wayyābō} ‘and he came’, vayar {וַיַּרְא | wayyarʾ} ‘and he saw’, vayikrav {וַיִּקְרַב | wayyiqrav} ‘and he approached’, and vayaal {וַיַּעַל | wayyaʿal} ‘and he went up’. Each verb is linked to hamelekh {הַמֶּלֶךְ | hamméleḵ} ‘the king’, maintaining the subject’s prominence. The particle et {אֶת־ | ʾet} marks hamizbeach {הַמִּזְבֵּחַ | hammizbēaḥ} ‘the altar’ as the object of vayar, while al-hamizbeach {עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ | ʿal-hammizbēaḥ} and alav {עָלָיו | ʿālāv} ‘on it’ form a prepositional phrase indicating physical ascent. In context, ascending onto the altar signifies the king’s performance of a ritual act. |