| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with the vav-consecutive imperfect wayyēreḏ {וַיֵּ֥רֶד | wayyēreḏ} 'and he went down', marking sequential action. Its subject ’āḇîhû {אָבִ֖יהוּ | ’āḇîhû} 'his father' appears in construct state, linking to the prepositional phrase ʾel-ha’îšâ {אֶל־הָאִשָּׁה | ʾel-ha’îšâ} 'to the woman'. The next vav-consecutive imperfect wayyaʿăś {וַיַּעַשׂ | wayyaʿăś} 'and he made' introduces a new event, followed by the locative adverb šām {שָׁם | šām} 'there' and the topical proper noun šimshōn {שִׁמְשׁוֹן | šimshōn} 'Samson', which precedes its object mištéh {מִשְׁתֶּה | mištéh} 'feast' for emphasis. The causal conjunction kî kên {כִּי כֵּן | kî kên} 'for thus' leads into the imperfect yaʿăśû {יַעֲשׂוּ | yaʿăśû} 'they do', with hab-baḥûrîm {הַבַּחוּרִים | hab-baḥûrîm} 'the young men' as subject. Hebrew syntax places explanatory clauses at clause end, while English relocates them to maintain natural subject-verb-object order and preserve causal nuance. |