| 25. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the narrative vav vayehi {וַיְהִי | wə·yĕ·hî} ‘and it happened’, marking a shift to past narrative. The temporal clause kîbā {כִּי־בָא | kî·bā} ‘when he came’ links to the purpose infinitive construct liq·rā·ṯ {לִקְרַאת | liq·rā·ṯ} ‘to meet’ the king (ham·mē·leḵ {הַמֶּלֶךְ | ham·mē·leḵ}). Dialogue is introduced by way·yō·mer {וַיֹּאמֶר | way·yō·mer} ‘and he said’, with the indirect object lō {לוֹ | lō} ‘to him’. The interrogative lā·māh {לָמָּה | lā·māh} initiates a direct question, and the negated perfect lō·hā·lakh·tā {לֹא־הָלַכְתָּ | lō·hā·lakh·tā} maintains the Hebrew VSO pattern before the subject. The prepositional phrase ʿim·mî {עִמִּי | ʿim·mî} ‘with me’ emphasizes accompaniment, while mə·p̄î·bō·šêṯ {מְפִיבֹשֶׁת | mə·p̄î·bō·šêṯ} functions as a vocative. English translation regularizes to subject-verb-object order for clarity while preserving Hebrew rhetorical emphases. |