| 25. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the existential negation ve-kamohu lo-hayah lefanav melekh {וְכָמֹהוּ לֹֽא־הָיָ֨ה לְפָנָ֜יו מֶ֗לֶךְ | wə-ḵā-mō-hû lō-ḥā-yāh lə-pānā-ḇāw mē-leḵ} ‘and like him there was no king before him,’ using lo-hayah ‘was not’ and lefanav ‘before him’ to frame Josiah’s uniqueness. The relative asher-shav {אֲשֶׁר־שָׁ֤ב | ʾă-šer-šāḇ} ‘who turned’ introduces his covenantal return. The anaphoric tricolon bekhol-levavo uvekhol-nafsho uvekhol-meʾodo {בְּכָל־לְבָב֤וֹ וּבְכָל־נַפְשׁוֹ וּבְכָל־מְאֹד֔וֹ | bə-ḵōl-lə-ḇā-ḇō ū-bə-ḵōl-nə-p̄ē-šō ū-bə-ḵōl-mə-ʾō-ḏō} ‘with all his heart, soul, and might’ stresses total devotion, echoing Deuteronomic covenant language. The clause kekhol torat Mosheh {כְּכֹל תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה | kə-ḵōl tô-rāṯ mō-šē-h} ‘according to all the law of Moses’ grounds his obedience in the covenant instructions. The concluding inclusio ve-acharav lo-kam kamohu {וְאַחֲרָיו לֹֽא־קָ֥ם כָּמֹֽהוּ | wə-ʾă-ḥă-rā-wāw lō-qām kā-mō-hû} ‘and after him none arose like him’ reinforces his unparalleled status. |