| 42. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the vav-consecutive verb vaya’anu {וַיַּעֲנוּ֙ | va-ya-‘a-nu} introducing direct speech. The parallel nominal phrases kol-’îš Yehû-dāh {כָ֠ל־אִ֣ישׁ יְהוּדָ֞ה | kol-’îš Yehû-dāh} “all the men of Judah” and ‘al-’îš Yiś-rā-’ēl {עַל־אִ֥ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל | ‘al-’îš Yiś-rā-’ēl} “to the men of Israel” set speakers and addressees. The conjunction kî {כִּֽי־ | kî} marks the causal clause ham-melekh qā-rōv ’ê-lay {הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ קָרֹב֙ אֵלַ֑י | ham-melekh qā-rōv ’ê-lay} “the king is near to me/us,” where the adjective qā-rōv conveys kinship. The interrogative wə-lā-mah {וְלָ֤מָּה | wə-lā-mah} with ḥā-rāh {חָרָ֣ה | ḥā-rāh} forms the complaint “and why was there anger?” The Hifil infinitive construct ‘al-ha-‘ā-lō-tî introduces the action of returning the king. The double negative wə-hă-lōʾ … ’im underscores denial of personal gain, with mē-’ō-khal ’ā-khal-nû min-ha-mē-lekh preserving expense nuance, and nā-sā-ti nā-sāʾ lā-nû emphasizing that no gift was carried to them. This maintains Hebrew parallelism, interrogative force, and kinship emphasis. |