| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The clause opens with vayyelekhu {וַיֵּֽלְכוּ֙ | vay·yə·lēḵû} ‘and they walked,’ a vav-consecutive verb that advances the historical narration while also marking moral direction (“walk” as lived allegiance). The prepositional phrase bechuqqot hagoyim {בְּחֻקּ֣וֹת הַגּוֹיִ֔ם | bə·ḥuq·qōt ha·gō·yim} ‘in the statutes of the nations’ uses bet to depict immersion within a governing pattern of life, with the construct chain placing authority in “statutes” rather than mere habits. A first relative clause, asher horish Yahweh {אֲשֶׁר הוֹרִ֣ישׁ יְהוָ֔ה | ʾă·šer hôrîš Yahweh} ‘which the LORD dispossessed,’ anchors those nations in Yahweh’s prior act of removing them “from before” Israel, making Israel’s imitation a reversal of God’s saving action. The coordination wumalkhei Yisrael asher asu {וּמַלְכֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשֽׂוּ | ū·mal·kē yiś·rā·ʾēl ʾă·šer ʿā·sū} ‘and (those of) the kings of Israel which they did’ supplies a second relative clause that parallels the first: “which” ties the kings’ conduct to the same governing “statutes” framework implied from the earlier phrase, so the sentence condemns imitation of both foreign norms and homegrown royal innovations. |