| 19. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the age expression featuring ben {בֶּן | bēn} ‘son’ + the compound numeral esrim ushtayim {עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּיִם | ʿeśrîm û-šṭayim} ‘twenty-two’ + shanah {שָׁנָה | šānāh} ‘year’. The prepositional phrase bemolcho {בְּמָלְכ֔וֹ | bə-malkô} ‘in his reign’ introduces the temporal frame, followed by the coordinated duration ushṭayim shanim {וּשְׁתַּיִם שָׁנִים | û-šṭayim šā-nîm} ‘and two years’ which precedes the verb malach {מָלַךְ | mālaḵ} ‘he reigned’. Location is specified by birushalayim {בִּירוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם | bī-rû-šā-lā-yim} ‘in Jerusalem’. The paratactic clause veshem immo {וְשֵׁם אִמּ֔וֹ | wə-šēm ʾim-mō} ‘and the name of his mother’ leads into the construct chain Meshullemeth bat-Charutz {מְשֻׁלֶּ֥מֶת בַּת־חָר֖וּץ | me-šul-le-mēṯ baṯ-ḥā-rūṣ} ‘Meshullemeth daughter of Charutz’, and the final locative min Yatvah {מִן־יָטְבָֽה | min yāṯ-vāh} ‘from Jotvah’ marks origin. The verse’s numerical constructs, temporal prepositional clauses, and construct phrases deliver concise biographical data. |