| 22. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the sequential vav-consecutive verb vaya'azov {וַיַּעֲזֹב | wayyiʿazov} ‘and he forsook’, establishing narrative progression. The direct object marker et {אֶת־ | ʾet} precedes the divine name Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yəhōwāh} to mark its role. The construct phrase elohei avotav {אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתָיו | ʾĕlōhē ʾăbōṯāyw} ‘God of his fathers’ highlights ancestral covenant context. The negated perfect clause velo halakh {וְלֹא הָלַךְ | wə-lōʾ hā-lak} ‘and he did not walk’ expresses completed refusal. The prepositional phrase bderekh Yahweh {בְּדֶרֶךְ יְהוָה | bə-de-reḵ Yəhōwāh} ‘in the way of the LORD’ functions idiomatically to denote faithful obedience to divine instruction. |