| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive verb vayetse {וַיֵּצֵ֥א | wayyeṣēʾ} ‘and he went out’, introducing hamelekh {הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ | hammeleḵ} ‘the king’ as subject. The coordinated phrase ve-khol-ha-am {וְכָל־הָעָ֖ם | wə-kāl-hā-ʿām} ‘and all the people’ uses a maqaf to indicate accompaniment. The idiomatic prepositional phrase be-rag-lav {בְּרַגְלָ֑יו | bə-rag-lāw} ‘on his feet’ conveys movement together on foot. The subsequent vav-consecutive wayyaamdu {וַיַּעַמְד֖וּ | wayyaʿamḏû} ‘and they stood’ continues the narrative immediacy. The construct chain beit hamerhaq {בֵּ֥ית הַמֶּרְחָֽק | bêt ham-mər-ḥāq} ‘house of the distant place’ forms a genitive compound functioning as the destination, rendered in English as “last house.” Coordinated vav clauses preserve Hebrew narrative flow, while the genitive construct is rendered with an adjectival phrase to maintain the relationship. |