| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The vav-consecutive imperfect vayyelekh {וַיֵּ֕לֶךְ | wayyēleḵ} ‘and walked’ introduces the main narrative action. The prepositional phrase bederekh malkhei yiśrāʾēl {בְּדֶ֖רֶךְ מַלְכֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | bədereḵ malkê yiśrāʾēl} ‘in way of kings of Israel’ functions adverbially to characterize the king’s conduct. The conjunction vegām {וְגַ֤ם | wəgām} ‘and also’ links to the hiphil hēʿēvîr {הֶעֱבִ֣יר | hēʿēvîr} ‘he caused to pass,’ with direct-object marker ʾet {אֶת | ʾet} marking bənē {בְּנוֹ | bənô} ‘his son.’ The simile kəṯōʿăḇōt hagôyīm {כְּתֹֽעֲבוֹת הַגּוֹיִ֔ם | kəṯōʿăḇōt ha-gôyīm} ‘like abominations of the nations’ uses ke for comparison to foreign cultic rites. The relative clause ʾăšer hōriš Yahweh ʾōṯām mipnē bənē yiśrāʾēl {אֲשֶׁר הוֹרִישׁ יְהוָה אֹתָם מִפְּנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵֽל | ʾăšer hōriš Yahweh ʾōṯām mipnē bənē yiśrāʾēl} ‘which the LORD dispossessed from before the sons of Israel’ provides the causal-historical background, with the hiphil emphasizing divine agency in expulsion. English preserves the Hebrew narrative sequence and clause structure. |