| 25. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with halo {הֲלֹא־ | ha·lōʼ} ‘have not’, paired with shamatta {שָׁמַעְתָּ | šā·ma·ʿtā} ‘you heard’, forming a rhetorical question. The temporal frames lemerāḥoq {לְמֵרָחוֹק | lə·mê·rā·ḥōq} ‘from afar’ and lemimei qedem {לְמִימֵי קֶדֶם | lə·mim·mê·y qé·dēm} ‘from days of old’ establish enduring divine intent. The perfect verbs asiti {עָשִׂ֔יתִי | ʿā·śî·tî} ‘I made’ and weyitsartihah {וִיצַרְתִּיהָ | wə·yiṣ·ṣar·tî·hā} ‘and I formed it’ underscore deliberate divine craftsmanship. The hifil perfect habeaitiha {הֲבֵיאתִיהָ | ha·bê·ʼî·tî·hā} ‘I have brought it’ marks completion, and the vav-qal imperfect wetehi {וּתְהִי | wə·tə·hî} ‘and it has come to be’ signals resultant action. The infinitive lahashot {לַהְשׁוֹת | la·ha·šô·ṯ} ‘to devastate’ governs gallim nitsim arim betsurot {גַּלִּים נִצִּים עָרִים בְּצֻרוֹת} ‘heaps of desolation’ targeting ‘fortified cities’, preserving the Hebrew’s emphatic force. |