| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The Hebrew uses ule’amasa {וּלְעָמָשָׂא} as an indirect object introducer, followed by the predicate tomar {תֹּאמַר} in a jussive sense. The interrogation halo {הֲלוֹא} anticipates a rhetorical affirmation, linking atzmi veuvsari {עַצְמִי וּבְשָׂרִי} “my bone and my flesh” in a Hebraic merism for close family. The oath formula koh ya’aseh li Elohim vekoh yosif {כֹּה יַעֲשֶׂה לִי אֱלֹהִים וְכֹה יוֹסִיף} employs two parallel imprecations with divine subject expressed elliptically in the third person masculine singular. The conditional im lo {אִם לֹא} introduces the protasis, and the apodosis atah sar-hatsava tachat Yoav {אָתָּה שַׂר־הַצָּבָא תַּחַת יוֹאָב} maintains the construct chain sar-hatsava, emphasizing hierarchical succession. The temporal frame lefanai kol-hayamim {לְפָנָי כָּל־הַיָּמִים} serves as both durative and witness clause. |