| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the causal particle lāḵēn {לָכֵן | lāḵēn} ‘therefore’, followed by hinnēnî {הִנְנִי | hinnēnî} ‘behold, I’, introducing a divine announcement. The Qal active participle ʾôsip̄əḵā {אֹסִפְךָ | ʾôsip̄əḵā} and the Niphal perfect wəneʾsāptā {וְנֶאֱסַפְתָּ | wəneʾsāptā} create a parallelism of gathering themes. Construct chains ʿal-ʾāvōṯəḵā {עַל־אֲבֹתֶיךָ | ʿal-ʾāvōṯəḵā} and ʾel-qivroṯəḵā {אֶל־קִבְרֹתֶיךָ | ʾel-qivroṯəḵā} define the journey to the fathers and to the graves. The phrase bəšālôm {בְּשָׁלוֹם | bəšālôm} signals ideal peaceful rest. The negative clause wəlōtīrʾinnā ʿēnēḵā {וְלֹא־תִרְאֶינָה עֵינֶיךָ | wə-lō-tī-rʾin-nā ʿēnēḵā} indicates the king’s eyes will avoid seeing hārāʿāh {הָרָעָה | hārāʿāh}, “the evil,” introduced by ʾăšer {אֲשֶׁר | ʾăšer} and expressed by the Hifil participle mēvîʾ {מֵבִיא | mēvîʾ}. The locative ʿal-hammāqōm haz-zeh {עַל־הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה | ʿal-hammāqōm haz-zeh} pinpoints the target. The narrative closes with the vav-consecutive Hiphil imperfect wayyāšîbū {וַיָּשִׁיבוּ | wayyāšîbū} “and they returned” and the object clause ʾeth-hamméleḵ dāḇār {אֶת־הַמֶּלֶךְ דָּבָר | ʾeth-hamméleḵ dāḇār}, indicating the report’s delivery to the king. |