| 41. Linguistic Exegesis The clause opens with wayyihyû {וַיִּהְי֣וּ | wayyihyû} ‘and they were,’ using a waw-consecutive form to describe an ongoing state rather than a single event. The subject is specified by the noun phrase haggôyim hāʾēlleh {הַגּוֹיִ֣ם הָאֵ֗לֶּה | haggôyim hāʾēlleh} ‘these nations.’ Two participial expressions are set in tension: yərēʾîm {יְרֵאִים֙ | yərēʾîm} ‘fearing’ takes ʾet-Yahweh {אֶת־יְהוָ֔ה | ʾet-Yahweh} ‘the LORD’ as its object, while hāyû ʿōvədîm {הָי֣וּ עֹֽבְדִ֑ים | hāyû ʿōvədîm} ‘they were serving’ governs wəʾet-pəsîlêhem {וְאֶת־פְּסִֽילֵיהֶ֖ם | wəʾet-pəsîlêhem} ‘and their idols.’ The coordination, without an explicit adversative particle, heightens the irony of simultaneous reverence and idolatrous practice (religious syncretism). The adverb gam {גַּם־ | gam} extends the description beyond the first generation, and the paired kinship terms bənêhem ûvənê bənêhem {בְּנֵיהֶ֣ם וּבְנֵ֣י בְנֵיהֶ֗ם | bənêhem ûvənê bənêhem} ‘their sons and their grandsons’ functions as a generational merism. The comparative kaʾăšer {כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר | kaʾăšer} introduces the model of prior behavior, and the pronoun hēm {הֵ֣ם | hēm} adds emphasis: “they themselves keep doing it.” The temporal boundary ʿad hayyôm hazzeh {עַ֖ד הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה | ʿad hayyôm hazzeh} ‘until this day’ frames the practice as continuing into the narrator’s present, which is reflected in English with present-oriented wording. |