| 1. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive in vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wayyōmer} ‘and he said’, signaling narrative continuity and introducing direct speech. The speaker Achitophel {אֲחִיתֹפֶל | ʼăḥīṭōphel} addresses Abshalom via the prepositional phrase el-Avshalom {אֶל־אַבְשָׁלוֹם | ʼel-ăvšālōm}. A trio of Qal cohortatives—evcharah {אֶבְחֲרָה | ʼĕḥă-rāh} ‘let me choose’, ve-akumah {וְאָקוּמָה | wə’āqûmāh} ‘let me arise’, ve-erḍefah {וְאֶרְדְּפָה | wə’ērdəp̄āh} ‘let me pursue’—express strategic counsel and urgency, with na {נָא | nāʼ} adding politeness. The compound numeral shneim-asar elef {שְׁנֵים־עָשָׂר אֶלֶף | šnēym-‘āśār ’elep̄} ‘twelve thousand’ preserves Hebrew units-before-thousands order. The preposition acharei {אַחֲרֵי | ’ăḥărêy} marks pursuit direction, and halailah {הַלָּיְלָה | hăllāylāh} functions adverbially ‘by night’, specifying timing. In translation, the formal uses polite imperatives to mirror the Hebrew petition, while the dynamic employs future-tense verbs for immediacy. |