| 28. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the temporal construct bishnat-mot {בִּשְׁנַת־מ֖וֹת | biš-nát mōt} ‘in the year of death,’ where the preposition marks a time expression and the feminine noun in construct indicates possession. The phrase ha-melekh Achaz {הַמֶּלֶךְ אָחָז | hā-mé-lek ʾā-ḥáz} ‘King Ahaz’ functions as the subject. The verb hayah {הָיָה | hā-yāh} ‘was’ serves as a copula linking the temporal setting to the predicate. The predicate ha-masa ha-zeh {הַמַּשָּׂא הַזֶּה | hā-mas-sāʾ ha-zéh} ‘this burden’ specifies the particular oracle. The Hebrew sequence (temporal construct → subject → copula → predicate) is preserved to foreground the timing of the prophetic message. |