| 19. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with the vav-consecutive Qal imperfect verbs vayakumu {וַיָּק֥וּמוּ | wayyaqūmû} ‘and they arose’ and vayachanu {וַיַּחֲנוּ | wayyaḥănû} ‘and they camped’, creating a sequential storyline. The construct chain bnei-yisrael {בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | bĕnê yiśrāʾēl} ‘sons of Israel’ identifies a corporate group. The temporal expression baboker {בַּבֹּ֑קֶר | bă-bō-qer} ‘in the morning’ sets the action at dawn. The prepositional phrase al-hagivah {עַל־הַגִּבְעָֽה | ʿal-haggîbʿāh} ‘against Gibeah’ marks the target location, with the definite article highlighting its significance in the military context. English word order is adjusted to subject-verb-object to meet standard syntax while preserving emphasis on participants and setting. |