| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The clause begins with vegam {וְגַם | wə-ḡam} ‘and also,’ adding emphasis to the continuation of wrongdoing; shafakh {שָׁפַךְ | šāphaḵ} ‘he poured out’ takes its object before the verb to highlight the violence; the intensifier harbeh meod {הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד | harbê məʼōḏ} ‘very much’ amplifies the atrocity; the prepositional phrase ad asher mille et yerushalayim pe lāp̄eh {עַד אֲשֶׁר־מִלֵּא אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם פֶּה לָפֶה | ʿad ʼăšer milêʼ ʼet yərûšālayim pe lāp̄eh} ‘until he filled Jerusalem from end to end’ uses a spatial idiom conveying total saturation; the phrase mechattaoto {מֵחַטָּאתוֹ | mēḥaṭṭātô} ‘from his sin’ marks the basis for condemnation; hecheti {הֶחֱטִיא | heḥeṭṭīʼ} ‘he caused to sin’ frames Manasseh as instigator of Judah’s transgression; and the infinitive laasot hara baeinei Yahweh {לַעֲשׂוֹת הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה | laʿăśôt hārāʿ bə-ʻēnê Yahweh} ‘to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh’ employs the Deuteronomistic evaluation formula. |