| 18. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with venatnu {וְנָתְנוּ | wə-nā-tə-nû} ‘and they placed’, a vav-consecutive Qal imperfect verb that drives the action sequence. The phrase et-eloheihem {אֶת־אֱלֹהֵיהֶם | ʾet-ʾĕ-lō-hê-hêm} uses the direct object marker to specify the idols. The locative ba-esh {בָּאֵשׁ | bə-ʾēš} ‘in the fire’ indicates the means of destruction. The causal clause ki lo elohim hemah {כִּי לֹא אֱלֹהִים הֵמָּה | kî lōʾ ʾĕ-lō-hîm hêm-mah} ‘for they were not gods’ combines negation with a resumptive pronoun. The adversative clause ki im-maaseh yedei-adam {כִּי אִם־מַעֲשֵׂ֧ה יְדֵֽי־אָדָ֛ם | kî ʾim-ma-ʿă-sê yə-dê-yā-ˈdām} ‘but only work of human hands’ reveals the idols’ true nature, further specified by the appositive ets va-even {עֵץ וָאֶבֶן | ʿêṣ wā-ʾe-ḇen} ‘wood and stone’. The Piel imperfect vayab-dum {וַיְאַבְּדֽוּם | way-ʾabbə-dûm} ‘and they destroyed them’ conveys the completeness of their destruction. English past-tense verbs replicate the Hebrew vav-consecutive sequence, and “for” and “but” preserve the causal and adversative contrasts. |