| 9. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive verb vayyiṯtenem {וַיִּתְּנֵ֞ם | va-yit-te-nēm} ‘and he gave them’, marking sequential narrative action and transfer of authority, followed by the prepositional phrase be-yad haggivʿonim {בְּיַד הַגִּבְעֹנִים | bə-yaḏ ha-gi-ḇʿo-nim} ‘into the hand of the Gibeonites’. The Hifil stem of vayyoqīʿūm {וַיֹּקִיעֻם | va-yo-kī-ʿūm} ‘and they impaled them’ conveys violent causation, located by bahār {בָּהָר | ba-hār} ‘on the hill’. The relational expression lifnê Yahweh {לִפְנֵי יְהוָה | li-pnê Yə-hō-wāh} ‘before the LORD’ introduces divine witness and accountability. The clause vayyippəlu šə-ḇaʿ-tām yāḥaḏ {וַיִּפְּלוּ שְׁבַעְתָּם יָחַד | va-yip-pə-lū šə-ḇaʿ-tām yā-ḥaḏ} ‘and the seven fell together’ uses an imperfect verb plus adverb to signal simultaneous action. The passive perfect humməṯû {הֻמְת֜וּ | hum-me-ṯû} ‘they were put to death’ emphasizes the judicial outcome. Final temporal layers bəyammê qaṣîr bārîšōnnîm biṯḥillāt qeṭṣîr seʿôrîm {בִּימֵי קָצִיר בָּרִאשֹׁנִים בִּתְחִלַּת קְצִיר שְׂעֹרִים | bi-ym-mê qa-ṣîr ba-ri-šō-nnîm bi-tḥil-lat qe-ṣir se-ʿō-rîm} ‘in the days of harvest, in the first days, at the beginning of the barley harvest’ reflect calendrical precision. English rendering shifts narrative vav-clauses into coordinated and subordinate structures, placing temporal modifiers at the end for clarity. |