| 22. Linguistic Exegesis The verse advances with a rapid chain of wayyiqtol forms, vattashav {וַתָּשָׁב | waṯ-šāḇ} ‘and you returned’, vatokhal {וַתֹּאכַל | waṯ-ʾō-ḵal} ‘and you ate’, and vattesht {וַתֵּשְׁתְּ | waṯ-ṯēšt} ‘and you drank’, portraying step-by-step reversal and participation in what was forbidden. The prepositional phrase bamakom {בַּמָּקוֹם | ba-mā-qōm} ‘in the place’ is qualified by a relative clause introduced by asher {אֲשֶׁר | ʾă-šer}, locating the violation precisely at the setting of the earlier divine instruction. The prohibition is quoted with ʾal + imperfect (al-toakhal {אַל־תֹּאכַל | ʾal-tō-ʾḵal}, ve-al-tesht {וְאַל־תֵּשְׁתְּ | wə-ʾal-ṯēšt}), a construction suited to direct commands, and it repeats the paired actions “eat bread” and “drink water” for emphasis. The closing consequence shifts from commands to outcome using lōʾ + imperfect (lo-tavo {לֹא־תָבוֹא | lō-tā-ḇōʾ}), with the verb placed before the subject nivlatekha {נִבְלָתְךָ | niḇ-lāṯ-ḵā} ‘your corpse’, spotlighting the denial of burial. The phrase el-kever avoteikha {אֶל־קֶבֶר אֲבֹתֶיךָ | ʾel-qeḇer ʾă-ḇō-ṯe-ḵā} links burial to family identity, so exclusion from the fathers’ grave functions as a public sign of judgment. |