| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The clause opens with ki {כִּי | kî} as a causal connector, grounding the promise in divine authority. The fixed prophetic-speech formula koh amar {כֹה אָמַר | kō ʾāmar} introduces a quoted decree, placing the following assertions under the weight of divine speech. The subject is expanded by apposition in Yahweh Elohei Yisraʾel {יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל | Yəhōwāh ʾĕlōhê yiśrāʾēl}, linking the covenant name with a national title to emphasize that the One speaking is Israel’s God. Two coordinated lines form a tight parallelism: kad hakkemach {כַד הַקֶּמַח | kad haqqemaḥ} with the negated imperfect lo tikhleh {לֹא תִכְלָה | lōʾ tiḵleh} and, in balance, ṣappachat hashemen {צַפַּחַת הַשֶּׁמֶן | ṣappāḥat haššemen} with lo techsar {לֹא תֶחְסָר | lōʾ teḥsār}. The imperfects portray continuing future state (ongoing non-depletion), while the repeated negation creates emphatic assurance. The temporal limit ad yom {עַד יוֹם | ʿad yôm} introduces an endpoint, and the maqqef-bound complex teten-tet-Yahweh {תתן־תֵּת־יְהוָה | titten-tēt-Yəhōwāh} combines an imperfect with an infinitive absolute to express certainty (“will surely give”), focusing the promise on a decisive divine act. Finally, al-penei haadamah {עַל־פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה | ʿal-pənê hāʾădāmāh} uses the idiom “upon the face of” to depict rain spread broadly across the land, reinforcing the scope of restoration. |