| 33. Linguistic Exegesis The discourse opens with ve‘attah {וְעַתָּה | wə-ʻaṭ-ṭāh} ‘and now’ as a temporal marker. The negative imperative al yasem {אַל־יָשֵׂם | ʾal yā-sēm} ‘do not let him set/place’ employs a jussive sense in the imperfect. The address adoni hamelekh {אֲדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ | ʼă-dō-nî ham-mé-leḵ} functions as a respectful vocative. The phrase el libo davar {אֶל־לִבּוֹ דָּבָר | ʼeḷ lib-bō dā-vār} ‘to his heart the matter’ marks the psychological object of reception, with le‘emor {לֵאמֹר | lê-ʾmôr} ‘to say’ introducing indirect discourse. The sequence kol bnei hamelekh metu {כָּל־בְּנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ מֵתוּ | kôl bǝ-nê ham-mé-leḵ mē-tû} is a content clause stating “all the king’s sons have died.” Finally, ki-im-Amnon levado met {כִּי־אִם־אַמְנֹן לְבַדּוֹ מֵת | kî ʼim ʼam-nôn lə-ḇaddō mēṯ} uses the limiting conjunction ki-im ‘for except’ and the prepositional phrase levado to emphasize solitary death. |