| 9. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the vav-consecutive plus imperfect verb vatomer {וַתֹּאמֶר | waṯ·ṯômer} ‘and she said,’ marking narrative flow. The appositional phrase ha-ishah hattəqōʿîṯ {הָאִשָּׁה הַתְּקוֹעִית | hāʾiššāh hattəqōʿîṯ} ‘the woman of Tekoa’ identifies her origin. A paired prepositional construction alay ’ăḏōnî hammēleḵ {עָלַי אֲדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ | ʿālay ʾăḏōnî hammēleḵ} ‘upon me, my lord the king’ assigns guilt while employing adoni as an honorific. The coordinate ve-‘al bêṯābî {וְעַל בֵּית אָבִי | wəʿal bêṯābî} ‘and upon my father’s house’ extends that charge to her family line. Finally, the clause ve-hammēleḵ wə-kisʾô nāqqî {וְהַמֶּלֶךְ וְכִסְא֖וֹ נָקִֽי | wəhammēleḵ wəkiśʾô nāqqî} links king and throne as moral subjects, with the adjective nakkî affirming cleanness and legal innocence. The balanced parallelism underscores her voluntary acceptance of blame juxtaposed with the king’s declared blamelessness. |