| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | va-yō-mer} ‘and he said,’ a vav consecutive + Qal imperfect marking reported speech and continuity. The subject phrase khilkiyahu hakohen hagadol {חִלְקִיָּהוּ הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל | ḥil-qī-yā-hû ha-kō-hên ha-gā-dōl} identifies Hilkiah as high priest. The preposition al-shaphan {עַל־שָׁפָן | ʿal-šāphān} indicates the recipient of speech. Sefer hatorah {סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה | sê-per ha-tō-rāh} forms a construct chain ‘scroll of the law,’ the object of matzati {מָצָאתִי | mā-ṣā-ʾtî}. The locative bebeit Yahweh {בְּבֵית יְהוָה | bə-bêyt Yəhōwāh} situates discovery in the temple. Verbs vayiten {וַיִּתֵּן | va-yit-ten} and vayikra’ehu {וַיִּקְרָאֵהוּ | va-yik-rā-ʾê-hû} convey sequential actions, guiding the English into clear SVO order and splitting clauses for readability. |