לְפָנָֽיו׃

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 לְפָנָֽיו׃

   le-fa-NAV

   before him
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 אִם־לְהַקְטִ֥יר לְפָנָֽיו׃

   im-le-hak-TIR le-fa-NAV

   if only to make smoke or burn incense before him
3. clause🔊 וּמִ֤י אֲנִי֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶבְנֶה־לּ֣וֹ בַ֔יִת כִּ֖י אִם־לְהַקְטִ֥יר לְפָנָֽיו׃

   u-MI a-NI a-SHER e-VE-ne-LO va-YIT KI im-le-hak-TIR le-fa-NAV

   and who am I that I should build for him a house except that if only to make smoke or burn incense before him
4. sentence🔊 וּמִ֤י יַעֲצָ֨ר־כֹּ֙חַ֙ לִבְנֽוֹת־ל֣וֹ בַ֔יִת כִּ֧י הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם וּשְׁמֵ֥י הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם לֹ֣א יְכַלְכְּלֻ֑הוּ וּמִ֤י אֲנִי֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶבְנֶה־לּ֣וֹ בַ֔יִת כִּ֖י אִם־לְהַקְטִ֥יר לְפָנָֽיו׃

   u-MI ya-a-TSAR-KO-akh li-ve-NOT-LO va-YIT KI ha-sha-MA-yim u-she-ME ha-sha-MA-yim LO ye-khal-ke-LU-hu u-MI a-NI a-SHER e-VE-ne-LO va-YIT KI im-le-hak-TIR le-fa-NAV

   and who has strength to restrain or contain to build for him a house for the heavens and the heavens of the heavens not can contain him and who am I that I should build for him a house except that if only to make smoke or burn incense before him

Exegesis

The particle im {אִם | ʾim} “except if not” narrows the purpose to le-haktir lefanav {לְהַקְטִיר לְפָנָיו | lə·haq·ṭîr lə·pā·nāv} “to burn incense before him,” metonymically referring to worship offerings. The Hebrew interrogative sequence and parallelism (“who…who…except…”) are mirrored in the English reconstructions to preserve emphasis and theological nuance.