| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive imperfect verb vayomer {וַיֹּאמַר | wayyōʾmer} ‘and he said’, introducing direct speech. It immediately addresses God using the construct elohei avoteinu {אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵינוּ | ʾĕlōhê ʾăvōṯênû} ‘God of our fathers’, linking divine identity to covenant ancestry. The interrogative halo {הֲלֹא | halô} ‘is it not’ frames a rhetorical question affirmed by the emphatic pronoun atah-hu {אַתָּה־הוּא | ʾattāh hûʾ} ‘you indeed’ and the predicate noun elohim {אֱלֹהִים | ʾĕlōhîm} ‘God’, locating Him in heaven (bashamayim {בַּשָּׁמַיִם | baššāmayim} ‘in the heavens’). The conjunction ve-attah moshel {וְאַתָּה מוֹשֵׁל | wəʾattāh mōšēl} ‘and you rule’ uses a Qal participle for ongoing sovereignty. The prepositional construct bəkol mamlĕkōṯ haggôyim {בְּכֹל מַמְלְכוֹת הַגּוֹיִם | bəkōl mamməlāḵōṯ haggôyim} ‘over all the kingdoms of the nations’ expresses universal dominion. Finally, ūbəyāḏəḵā kōaḥ ugəvūrāh wəʾên ʿimməḵā lə-hittayṣēḇ {וּבְיָדְךָ כֹּחַ וּגְבוּרָה וְאֵין עִמְּךָ לְהִתְיַצֵּב | uvəyāḏəḵā ḵôaḥ ugəvūrāh wəʾên ʿimməḵā ləhittayṣēḇ} ‘and in your hand power and might, and there is no one to stand against’, pairing power (koach) and might (gevurah) before negating opposition to highlight God’s invincible rule. |