| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with a sequence of vav-consecutive imperfect verbs vehishkim {וְהִשְׁכִּים֙ | vәhišqîm} ‘and he rose early’ and ve‘amad {וְעָמַ֕ד | wəʿāmad} ‘and he stood’ establishing narrative progression. The compound prepositional phrase al-yad derekh ha-sha‘ar {עַל־יַד דֶּ֣רֶךְ הַשָּׁ֑עַר | ʿal-yad dereḵ ha-šaʿar} ‘beside the road at the gate’ situates Absalom in the public judicial setting. The temporal relative clause vayehi kol-ha’ish asher yihyeh-lo-riv lavo el-ha-melekh lamishpat {וַיְהִ֡י כָּל־הָאִ֣ישׁ אֲשֶֽׁר־יִהְיֶה־לּוֹ־רִיב לָב֨וֹ אֶל־הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ לַמִּשְׁפָּ֗ט | wayhî kol-hāʾîš ăšer-yihyeh-lô-rîv lābōʾ ʾel-hammeleḵ lammišpāṭ} employs a relative pronoun plus Qal imperfect to describe habitual legal proceedings. The Qal infinitive construct lavo {לָב֨וֹא | lābōʾ} ‘to come’ with the following lamishpat {לַמִּשְׁפָּ֗ט | lammišpāṭ} functions as purpose “for judgment.” Dialogue is marked by sequential verbs vayikra {וַיִּקְרָ֨א | wayyiqrāʾ} ‘and he called’ and vayomer {וַיֹּ֗אמֶר | wayyōʾmer} ‘and he said,’ indicating routine speech acts. In English, vav-consecutive verbs are rendered with “and” plus simple past, and habitual actions with “would” to reflect the repetitive nature of the events. |