| 12. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with the vav-consecutive verb vayelekh {וַיֵּלֶךְ | wayyēleḵ} ‘and he went,’ signaling continued past action, immediately followed by the second vav-consecutive verb vayyiqqāḥ {וַיִּקַּח | wayyiqqāḥ} ‘and he took.’ The direct object marker et {אֶת־ | ʾet} marks the definite objects in the phrases et-ʿaṣmōṯ Šāʼûl and wə-et-ʿaṣmōṯ Yəhōnāṯān {וְאֶת־עַצְמוֹת יְהוֹנָתָן | wə-ʾet-ʿaṣmōṯ Yəhōnāṯān} ‘and the bones of Jonathan,’ highlighting the specific items retrieved. Each relative clause is introduced by ʼăšer {אֲשֶׁר | ʼăšer} ‘who,’ first describing the men who gānḇû {גָּנְבוּ | gānḇû} ‘stole’ the bones from merḥōḇ {מֵרְחֹב | merḥōḇ} ‘plaza,’ and then specifying their disposal with ṯəlāʼûm {תְּלָאוּם | ṯəlāʼûm} ‘they hanged them.’ The temporal clause bəyōm hakkōṯ {בְּיוֹם הַכּוֹת | bə-yōm hakkōṯ} ‘on the day of striking’ situates the event during the Philistine victory over Saul at ba-gilbōʻa {בַּגִּלְבֹּעַ | ba-gilbōʻa}. The repetition of plištīm {פְּלִשְׁתִּים | plištīm} ‘Philistines’ underscores their role as aggressors throughout. |