| 23. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the causal conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} ‘for, because’, introducing two parallel analogies. The construct chain chatat-kesem {חַטַּאת־קֶסֶם | ḥaṭ-ṭāṯ-qé-sem} ‘sin of divination’ is equated to meri {מֶרִי | mé-rî} ‘rebellion’, while the pairing of aven {אָוֶן | ʼā-vēn} ‘iniquity’ with the substantive ha-petsar {הַפְצַר | ha-pə-ṣar} ‘stubbornness’ echoes the inclusion of the cultic term teraphim {תְּרָפִים | tə-rā-pîm} ‘household idols’. The causal ya-an {יַעַן | ya-ʿăn} ‘because’ clause employs the Qal perfect mā-ʾās-tā {מָאַסְתָּ | mā-ʾās-tā} ‘you have rejected’ of the direct object marker et and construct devar {דְּבַר | də-vaṯ} ‘word’ with Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yə-hō-wāh} ‘LORD’, followed by the vav-consecutive imperfect wa-yim-ʾā-sə-khā {וַיִּמְאָסְךָ | wa-yim-ʾā-sə-khā} ‘and he has rejected you’, marking the result of removal from melech {מֶלֶךְ | mé-lekh} ‘kingship’. The English reproduces the Hebrew parallelism with “is like” to maintain structural and rhetorical emphasis. |