| 7. Linguistic Exegesis The opening conjunction ve-attah {וְעַתָּה | wə-‘a-ttāh} ‘and now’ frames an urgent shift, immediately followed by the sequential imperatives kum {קוּם | kūm} ‘arise’, tse {צֵא | ṣēʾ} ‘go out’, and ve-dabber {וְדַבֵּר | wə-ḏab-bēr} ‘speak’, structuring David’s escalating commands. The prepositional phrase al-lev {עַל־לֵב | ʿal-lēḇ} ‘to the heart’ directs focus to inner resolve, with avadeikha {עֲבָדֶיךָ | ʿa-vā-ḏə-yə-ḵā} ‘your servants’ denoting his loyal troops. The oath clause introduced by ba-Yahweh nishba‘ti {בַּיהוָה נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי | bə-y(h)ō-wāh nīš-baʿ-tî} ‘by the LORD I have sworn’ underscores divine-backed authority. The conditional im-tetse ʾêyn yālin {אִם־תֵּצֵא אֵין יָלִין | ʾim-tēsē ʾêyn yā-lîn} ‘if you go out, there will be none lodging’ conveys absolute consequence. The temporal marker ha-lailah ha-zzeh {הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה | ha-lăy-lāh ha-z-zêh} ‘this night’ sets the deadline. The comparative ra‘ah le-kha zōt mi-kol-ha-ra‘ah {רָעָה לְךָ זֹאת מִכָּל־הָרָעָה | rā-‘āh lə-ḵā zōṯ mī-ḵōl-ha-rā-‘āh} ‘this will be worse for you than all the calamity’ employs the feminine noun ra‘ah and preposition mi-kol for intensification. The temporal clause min-ne‘ûrēkha ʿad-ʿattāh {מִנְּעֻרֶיךָ עַד־עָתָּה | min-nə-‘u-rê-ḵā ʿad-ʿat-tāh} ‘from your youth until now’ locates enduring adversity. The English rendition preserves Hebrew word order and rhetorical force. |