| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the perfect verb ve-natîṯî {וְנָטִ֣יתִי | wə-na-ṭî-ṯî} ‘stretch out’, with the conjunction waw presenting divine judgment as a decisive act. The phrases kav Shomron {קָו שֹׁמְרוֹן | qāw šom-ron} ‘line of Samaria’ and mishkolet beit Aḥ’āv {מִשְׁקֹלֶת בֵּית אַחְאָב | miš-qō-leṯ bēṯ ʾaḥ-ʾāv} ‘plumb line of Ahab’s house’ create a tight parallel structure highlighting consistent standards of judgment. The subordinating conjunction ka-’ăšer {כַּאֲשֶׁר | ka-ʾă-šer} ‘just as’ introduces the simile with ha-ṣallāḥat {הַצַּלַּחַת | ha-ṣal-lā-ḥat} ‘dish’, and the sequence of Qal perfect verbs māḥāh {מָחָה | mā-ḥā} ‘wipe out’ and wə-hā-p̄aḵ {וְהָפַךְ | wə-hā-p̄aḵ} ‘turn over’ in a result clause conveys the thoroughness of the reversal expressed by al-pānêhā {עַל־פָּנֶיהָ | ʿal-pā-nē-hā} ‘upon its face’. |