| 4. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav consecutive form vayomer {וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ | wayyōʾmer} ‘and he said’, introducing direct speech. The subject Avshalom {אַבְשָׁל֔וֹם | ʾăv-šā-lōm} follows. A rhetorical question begins with mi {מִי | mî} ‘who’ plus the imperfect mi-yesimeni {יְשִׂמֵ֥נִי | yəśimmênî} ‘would appoint me’, expressing desire for authority. The participle shofet {שֹׁפֵ֖ט | šōp̄ēṭ} ‘judge’ designates the office, and the prepositional phrase ba‘aretz {בָּאָ֑רֶץ | bā-ʾāreṣ} ‘in the land’ defines the jurisdiction. The coordinating ve-‘alāy {וְעָלַ֗י | wə-ʿalāy} ‘and to me’ introduces a protasis in which yāḇōʾ {יָב֛וֹא | yāḇōʾ} ‘would come’ and the bound relative clause ašer-yihyêh-lō-rîḇ {אֲשֶֽׁר־יִהְיֶה־לּוֹ־רִ֥יב | ʾăšer-yihyêh-lō-rîḇ} ‘who has a dispute’ sets a distributive scenario with kol-ʾîš {כָּל־אִ֛ישׁ | kol-ʾîš} ‘every man’. The coordinate û-miš-pāṭ {וּמִשְׁפָּ֖ט | û-miš-pāṭ} ‘and a case’ parallels riv, and the resultative wə-hiṣ-daqqtîw {וְהִצְדַּקְתִּֽיו | wə-hiṣ-daqqtîw} ‘and I would justify him’ expresses the judicial outcome. The translation preserves the Hebrew word order and highlights Absalom’s ambition for judicial authority. |