| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The clause opens with vayavo'u {וַיָּבֹ֗אוּ | wayyāḇōʾû} ‘and they came’, a vav-consecutive verbal form that advances the narrative sequence and foregrounds the action. The phrase avdei hammelekh {עַבְדֵ֛י הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ | ʿaḇdê hammeleḵ} ‘servants of the king’ is a construct chain that identifies the group by their institutional relationship and authority-structure rather than by individuals. The proper name khizqiyahu {חִזְקִיָּ֖הוּ | ḥizqiyyāhû} apposes “the king,” specifying which monarch is in view and tightening the referent for the reader. The destination is marked by ʾel {אֶל | ʾel} within el-yeshayahu {אֶל־יְשַֽׁעַיָֽהוּ | ʾel-yəšaʿyāhû} ‘to Isaiah’, placing the addressee at the close of the clause, a common Hebrew information-structure that builds toward the key encounter. |