| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the temporal marker uv’arba esreh shanah {וּבְאַרְבַּע֩ עֶשְׂרֵ֨ה שָׁנָ֜ה | u-və-ʾar-ba‘ ʿeś-rêh šā-nāh} ‘and in the fourteenth year.’ The phrase la-melekh chizqiyah {לַמֶּלֶךְ חִזְקִיָּה | la-me-lekh ḥiz-qī-yyāh} functions as a genitive of time, linking the event to Hezekiah’s reign. The verb alah {עָלָה | ʿā-lāh} employs the idiom ‘go up against’ for military advance. The construct chain sancheriv melekh-ashur {סַנְחֵרִיב מֶלֶךְ־אַשּׁוּר | san-ḥē-rīv me-lekh-ʾaš-šūr} identifies the invader by name and title. The prepositional accusative al-kol-arei yehudah ha-betzurot {עַל־כָּל־עָרֵי יְהוּדָה הַבְּצֻרוֹת | ʿal-kol-ā-rē yə-hū-dāh ha-bə-ṣū-rōt} specifies the target as all fortified cities of Judah. The vav-consecutive in vaiytpesem {וַיִּתְפְּשֵׂם | va-yit-pə-šēm} shifts the imperfect to a past narrative and introduces the result ‘he captured them.’ In translating, Hebrew’s VSO order and vav-consecutive are rendered as SVO in English to preserve clarity and narrative flow. |