| 11. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with the vav-consecutive formula vayehi {וַיְהִי | wayehî} ‘and it happened’, signaling a new episode. A temporal clause introduced by the infinitive construct kishmoa {כִּשְׁמֹעַ | kišmōa‘} ‘when he heard’ emphasizes immediate response. The subject hamelekh {הַמֶּלֶךְ | hammēleḵ} is followed by the direct object marker et {אֶת־ | ’et}, which governs the construct chain divrei sefer hatorah {דִּבְרֵי סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה | dibrē sēper hattôrāh} ‘words of the book of the law’, underlining canonical authority. The vav-consecutive imperfect vayikra {וַיִּקְרַע | vayyiqra‘} ‘and he tore’ conveys the king’s visceral reaction, and the pronominal suffix in begadav {בְּגָדָיו | bĕgādāw} ‘his clothes’ personalizes his mourning gesture. This cause-and-effect structure is maintained to preserve the text’s emotional intensity. |