| 29. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the narrative marker vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wayyōʼmer} ‘and he said’, introducing the king’s address. The indirect object lo {לוֹ | lō} ‘to him’ marks David as addressee. Topicalized ha-melekh {הַמֶּלֶךְ | ha-meleḵ} ‘the king’ asserts royal authority. The interrogative lāmmāh {לָמָּה | lāmmāh} ‘why’ with the piel imperfect tədabbēr {תְּדַבֵּר | tədabbēr} ‘do you speak’ forms a challenge. The adverb ʿōḏ {עוֹד | ʿōḏ} ‘still’ intensifies reference to dəvāreḵā {דְּבָרֶיךָ | dəvāreḵā} ‘your words’. The perfect ’āmārtī {אָמַרְתִּי | ’āmārtī} ‘I have said’ signals finality. Paratactic coordination of ’attāh {אַתָּה | ’attāh} and wə-ṣībāʾ {וְצִיבָא | wə-ṣībāʾ} with taḥlǝqū {תַּחְלְקוּ | taḥlǝqū} ‘you shall divide’ issues a judicial command. The object marker ʾeṯ {אֶת־ | ’eṯ} and ha-sāḏeh {הַשָּׂדֶה | ha-sāḏeh} ‘the field’ complete the decree, reflecting abrupt royal decision. |