| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs two parallel clauses introduced by the independent pronouns ani {אֲנִי | ʾă-nî} ‘I’ and vehu {וְהוּא | wə-hū} ‘and he’ paired with the imperfect verbs eheyeh {אֶֽהְיֶה | ʾe-hə-yēh} ‘will be’ and yihyeh {יִהְיֶה | yih-yēh} ‘will be,’ expressing ongoing relational roles. Each clause uses a prepositional construct—le’av {לְאָב | lə-’āb} ‘as a father’ parallel to leven {לְבֵן | lə-wên} ‘as a son’—to establish mutual filial status. The negated clause begins with chasdi {וְחַסְדִּי | wə-ḥa-səddî} ‘my lovingkindness’ followed by the negative particle lo {לֹא־ | lō} and imperfect asir {אָסִיר | ʾā-sîr} ‘will remove,’ indicating unwavering covenantal commitment. The comparative clause with ka’asher {כַאֲשֶׁר | ka-’ă-šer} ‘just as’ links to the Hiphil perfect hasiroti {הֲסִירוֹתִי | hə-sî-rō-tî} ‘I removed’ and the relative phrase me’asher … hayah … lefanekha {מֵאֲשֶׁר הָיָה לְפָנֶיךָ | mē-’ă-šer hā-yāh lə-pā-nê-kha} ‘from whomever was before you,’ contrasting a past action with a future promise. The use of imperfect forms emphasizes future certainty, while the perfect underscores a completed historical precedent. |