| 22. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the conditional conjunction vechi tomrun {וְכִי־תֹאמְר֣וּן | wā-ḵî-tōmərûn} ‘and if you say’, introducing a hypothetical objection. The prepositional phrase elay {אֵלַ֔י | ʾêl-āy} ‘to me’ marks the addressee. The clause el-yehoVah elohenu batachnu {אֶל־יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ בָּטָ֑חְנוּ | ʾel-Yᵉhôwâ ʾĕlōhê-nû bāṭāḥnû} ‘in the LORD our God we have trusted’ functions as the protasis. The interrogative halo hu {הֲלוֹא־ה֗וּא | hǎlōʾ-hûʾ} ‘is he not’ initiates the apodosis, leading into the relative clause asher hesir chizqiyahu et-bamotav ve-et-mizbechotav {אֲשֶׁ֨ר הֵסִ֤יר חִזְקִיָּ֙הוּ֙ אֶת־בָּמֹתָ֣יו וְאֶת־מִזְבְּחֹתָ֔יו | ʾăšer hēsîr ḥizqîyāhû ʾet-bāmōṯāw wə-ʾet-mizbəḥōṯāw} ‘who removed Hezekiah the high places and the altars of his’. The vav-consecutive vayomer {וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | wayyōʾmer} ‘and he said’ introduces a new speech act directed to liYehudah veLiYrushalayim {לִֽיהוּדָה֙ וְלִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם | lᵉyhūdā wə-lîrûšālayim}. The locative lifnei hamizbeach hazzeh {לִפְנֵי הַמִּזְבֵּ֣חַ הַזֶּ֔ה | lᵉpnê hammizbəʾeaḥ hazzēh} ‘before this altar’ frames the cultic setting, and the hishtaphel imperfect tishtachavu birushalayim {תִּֽשְׁתַּחֲו֖וּ בִּירוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם | tīštəḥāvēw bîrûšālîm} ‘you shall bow down in Jerusalem’ gives the command. The shift from conditional to rhetorical question to direct command heightens the dispute over asserted trust versus prescribed worship location. |