| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The wayyiqtol verb vayachalosh {וַיַּחֲלֹשׁ | way-ya-ḥă-lôš} ‘and he subdued’ opens the clause, illustrating the verb–subject inversion typical of Hebrew narrative. The subject yehoshua {יְהוֹשֻׁעַ | yê-hō-šû-ʿaʿ} ‘Joshua’ follows, emphasizing the human agent. The coordinated direct objects et-ʿamalek {אֶת־עֲמָלֵק | ʾeṯ-ʿă-mā-lêq} and ve-et-ammo {וְאֶת־עַמּוֹ | wə-ʾeṯ-ʿam-mô} present Amalek and his people as a unified threat. The idiomatic prepositional phrase lĕpî-ḥārev {לְפִי־חָרֶב | lə-pî-ḥā-rev} literally ‘by the mouth of the sword’ conveys decisive action; it is rendered formally as ‘wielding the sword’ to reflect actor control and dynamically as ‘by the sword’ for immediacy. |