| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive verb vayyēleḵ {וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ | way-yē-leḵ} ‘and he went’, marking sequential narrative action. The proper name ʿAmasā {עֲמָשָׂ֖א | ʿă-mā-śāʾ} functions as the subject. The Hiphil infinitive construct ləhazzăʿîq {לְהַזְעִ֣יק | lə-ḥăz-ʿîq} expresses purpose, indicating the intended action upon Yəhūdāh {יְהוּדָ֑ה | yə-hū-dāh} as direct object, signaled by ʾet {אֶת־ | ʾet-}. A second vav-consecutive Qal imperfect vayyōḥer {וַיּ֕וֹחֶר | way-yō-ḥer} describes his delay. The prepositional phrase min hammōʿēḏ {מִן־הַמּוֹעֵ֖ד | min ham-mō-ʿēḏ} ‘from the appointed time’ introduces a comparative temporal frame, which is specified by the relative clause ʾăšer yāʿāḏô {אֲשֶׁ֥ר יְעָדֽוֹ | ʾă-šer yā-ʿā-ḏô}, linking the time to its setter and clarifying agency. English rendering requires subordinators such as ‘beyond’ and a relative construction to capture the Hebrew syntactic nuance of urgency and authority. |