| 9. Linguistic Exegesis wayyirddehu {וַיִּרְדֵּ֣הוּ | wayyirddehu} ‘and he scraped it’ employs the vav-consecutive to maintain narrative flow, underscoring the forceful extraction by means of radāh {רָדָה | radāh} ‘to scrape off’. The prepositional phrase ʾel-kappāv {אֶל־כַּפָּיו | ʾel-kappāv} ‘into his palms’ focuses on direct manual action. The paired vav-consecutive imperfects vayyēlekh {וַיֵּלֶךְ | vayyēleḵ} and vayyitten {וַיִּתֵּן | vayyitten} sets a brisk sequence of movement and giving. The infinitive absolutes hālōḵ wəʾāḵōl {הָלוֹךְ וְאָכֹל | hālōḵ wəʾāḵōl} ‘going on and eating’ function adverbially to depict concurrent activity. Parallel syntax in ʾel-ʾāviv wəʾel-ʾimmō {אֶל־אָבִיו וְאֶל־אִמּוֹ | ʾel-ʾāviv wəʾel-ʾimmō} marks his visits to both parents. The negated Hiphil form wəlō-higgīd {וְלֹא־הִגִּיד | wəlō-higgīd} ‘and he did not tell’ creates suspense. Finally, the construct miggəviyyat hā-ʾaryēh {מִגְּוִיַּת הָאַרְיֵה | miggəviyyat hāʾaryēh} ‘from the carcass of the lion’ binds the honey to its unexpected source. |