| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the wayyiqtol verb vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | way-yō-mer} ‘and he said’, introducing direct speech. The subject avimelekh {אֲבִימֶלֶךְ | ʾă-ḇî-me-leḵ} precedes the prepositional phrase el-abraham {אֶל־אַבְרָהָם | ʾel-ʾaḇ-rā-hām}, marking the addressee. The interrogative mah {מָה | māh} ‘what’ is fronted, immediately followed by the perfect verb raita {רָאִיתָ | rā-ʾî-tā} ‘you saw’, highlighting perception as motive. The conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} ‘that/because’ links motive to resultant action, with the perfect asita {עָשִׂיתָ | ʿā-ʂî-tā} ‘you did’. The et-hadavar {אֶת־הַדָּבָר | ʾeṯ-had-dā-ḇār} phrase ‘the thing’ is marked by the direct-object marker ʾet, and the demonstrative hazeh {הַזֶּה | haz-zeh} ‘this’ specifies the deed. The structure ‘What you saw that you did this thing?’ foregrounds Abraham’s perception as the causal ground for his action. |