| 27. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the vav-consecutive Qal imperfect vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wayyōmer}, marking narrative continuation as the collective ha’am {הָעָם | hāʿām} issues its reply. The idiom ka-davar hazeh {כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה | ka-dāḇār hazzē} ‘according to this word’ invokes the prior promise. The infinitive le’emor {לֵאמֹר | lĕʾmōr} functions as a discourse marker introducing direct speech. Within the quotation, the adverb koh {כֹּה | kō} affirms the statement, and the Niphal ye’aseh {יֵעָשֶׂה | yêʿāšeh} expresses the assured passive result. The relative clause la’ish asher yakkenu {לָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יַכֶּנּוּ | lāʾîš ʾăšer yakkēnû} specifies the beneficiary as the one whose Hifil action of striking secures the reward. The English renderings preserve the Hebrew conditional-reward structure and emphasize the force of the promise. |