| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative shifts into direct address with the vav-consecutive וַתֹּאמֶר {va-ṯō-mer | wa-ṯō-mer} ‘and she said’. Delilah’s distress is marked by the temporal adverb עַד־הֵנָּה {ʿad-hen-nāh | ʿad-hen-nāh} ‘until now’ and the Hifil perfect הֵתַלְתָּ {hē-tal-tā | hē-tal-tā} ‘you have mocked’ paired with the plural noun כְּזָבִים {ke-zā-vîm | ke-zā-vîm} ‘lies’. The imperative הַגִּידָה {ha-gī-dāh | ha-gī-dāh} ‘tell’ issues a sharp command. Samson’s reply features the conditional אִם־תַּאַרְגִי {ʾim-ta-ʾar-gî | ʾim-ta-ʾar-gî} ‘if you weave’, followed by the construct chain מַחְלְפוֹת רֹאשִׁי {maḥ-le-phôt rō-šî | maḥ-le-phôt rō-šî} ‘locks of my head’ and the prepositional phrase עִם־הַמַּסָּכֶת {ʿim-ham-mas-sa-ket | ʿim-ham-mas-sa-ket} ‘with the loom’, preserving Hebrew sequence and clause structure in English direct speech. |