| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the noun-numeral construct ben ʿeśrīm šānāh {בֶּן־עֶשְׂרִ֤ים שָׁנָה֙ | bĕn-ʿeś-rīm šā-nāh} ‘son of twenty years’, marking the accession age. The prepositional phrase bə-malkô {בְּמָלְכ֔וֹ | bə-malkô} ‘in his reign’ frames the perfect verb mā-laḵ {מָלַ֖ךְ | mā-laḵ} ‘he reigned’, which is followed by its locative bî-yə-rū-šā-lā-yim {בִּירוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם | bî-yə-rū-šā-lā-yim} ‘in Jerusalem’. The negative clause wə-lō-ʿā-śāh ha-yā-šār {וְלֹא־עָשָׂ֣ה הַיָּשָׁ֗ר | wə-lō-ʿā-śāh ha-yā-šār} ‘and he did not do what was right’ introduces divine evaluation, with ha-yā-šār functioning substantively. The evaluative standard is articulated by bə-ʿē-nêy Yə-hō-wāh ʾĕ-lō-hāv {בְּעֵינֵ֛י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהָ֖יו | bə-ʿē-nêy Yə-hō-wāh ʾĕ-lō-hāv} ‘in the eyes of the LORD his God’. Finally the simile kə-dā-vîḏ ʾă-vîw {כְּדָוִ֥ד אָבִֽיו | kə-dā-vîḏ ʾă-vîw} ‘like David his father’ contrasts Ahaz’s failings with David’s faithfulness. The English rendering shifts from Hebrew’s verb–subject–object to subject–verb–object order, using a semicolon and contrastive “yet/but” to reflect the evaluative turn. |