| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wă-yō-mer} ‘and he said’, followed by eleha {אֵלֶיהָ | ʾê-lê-hā} ‘to her’ and the title sequence Avshalom achiha {אַבְשָׁל֣וֹם אָחִיהָ | ʾă-ḇšā-lōm ʾā-ḥî-hā} ‘Absalom, her brother’, employing a subject-initial construction for clarity. The phrase ha-aminon achikha {הַאֲמִינֹן אָחִיךְ | hă-ʾă-mîn-nōn ʾā-ḥî-khă} ‘the-Amnon your-brother’ places focus on Amnon’s identity. The Hifil imperative hacharishi {הַחֲרִישִׁי | hă-ḥă-rî-šî} ‘be silent’ conveys an authoritative command, and the prohibition al-tashiti {אַל־תָּשִׁיתִי | ʾal-tā-šî-tî} ‘do-not-you-set’ directs the addressee’s emotional restraint. The direct object et {אֶת | ʾet} marks libeikh {לִבֵּךְ | lī-bê-ḵ} ‘your-heart’ as the locus of feeling, aimed toward ladavar hazeh {לַדָּבָר הַזֶּה | la-dā-ḇār ha-żē} ‘to-the-matter-this’. The narrative concludes with vateshev {וַתֵּשֶׁב | wa-tê-šeb} ‘and-she-sat’ paired with the participle veshomeimah {וְשֹׁמֵמָה | wə-šō-mê-mā} ‘and-was-desolate’, highlighting Tamar’s ongoing devastation within beit Avshalom achiha {בֵּית אַבְשָׁל֥וֹם אָחִיהָ | bê-yt ʾă-ḇšā-lōm ʾā-ḥî-hā} ‘the-house-of-Absalom-her-brother’. |