| 26. Linguistic Exegesis The vav consecutive imperfect vayyiḥān {וַיִּ֤חַן | vayyiḳ-ḥān} ‘and he camped’ marks a sequential event in the military narrative. The coordination of the subjects Yisrael {יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yišraʾēl} ‘Israel’ and wə-ʾavšălōm {וְאַבְשָׁלֹ֔ם | wə-ʾavšălōm} ‘and Absalom’ underscores their unified force. The noun phrase ʾereṣ ha-gilʿād {אֶ֖רֶץ הַגִּלְעָֽד | ʾereṣ ha-gilʿā(ʿ)d} functions as a locative complement without a preposition, a feature common in Hebrew battle accounts that English renders idiomatically with “in.” This verb–subject–place arrangement emphasizes the immediacy of territorial occupation. |