| 1. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the narrative marker vayehi {וַיְהִי | wa-ye-hî} ‘and it was’, introducing a new event. The temporal phrase me’acharei ken {מֵאַחֲרֵי כֵן | mê-ʾa-ḥarê kēn} ‘after this’ establishes sequential context. The verb complex way-yaʿăś lō Avshalom {וַיַּעַשׂ לוֹ אַבְשָׁלוֹם | way-yaʿăś lō av-šā-lōm} ‘and Absalom made for himself’ uses the reflexive suffix to indicate initiative. The direct objects merkavah wə-sû-sîm {מֶרְכָּבָה וְסֻסִים | mer-kā-vāh wə-sû-sîm} ‘a chariot and horses’ form a nominal conjunction. The coordinated phrase wa-ḥă-mî-šîm īš rā-ṣîm lə-pā-nāw {וַחֲמִשִּׁים אִישׁ רָצִים לְפָנָיו | wa-ḥă-mî-šîm īš rā-ṣîm lə-pā-nāw} ‘and fifty men runners before him’ combines cardinal number + collective noun + participle noun + prepositional phrase, emphasizing the spectacle of royal display. |