| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive vayomer {וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | wāyōʾmer} ‘and he said,’ signaling narrative development. The prepositional phrase el-ha-Elohim {אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים | ʾel-hāʾĕlōhîm} ‘to the God’ designates the audience. The admission uses the Qal perfect chatati {חָטָאתִי | ḥāṭāʾtî} ‘I have sinned’ intensified by the adverb meʾod {מְאֹד | meʾōḏ} ‘greatly.’ The relative clause with asher {אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾăšer} ‘that’ and the Qal perfect asiti {עָשִׂיתִי | ʿāśîtî} ‘I have done’ specifies the offense. The entreaty employs the Hiphil imperative haʿaver-na {הַֽעֲבֶר־נָא֙ | haʿaḇer-nāʼ} ‘cause to pass away, please’ to request removal of avon {עֲווֹן | ʿāwōn} ‘guilt’ from the speaker identified by avdecha {עַבְדְּךָ֔ | ʿăḇdəkhā}. Finally, ki {כִּי֙ | kî} ‘for’ introduces the Niphal perfect niskalti {נִסְכַּ֖לְתִּי | nissakaltî} ‘I acted foolishly’ with meʾod {מְאֹד | meʾōḏ} ‘greatly.’ The English rendering mirrors the Hebrew sequence—narrative marker, confession, entreaty, rationale—while smoothing transitions for clarity. |