| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The decree opens with the conditional û-man-dî-lā {וּמַן־דִּי־לָא | û-man dî-lā} ‘and whoever does not’, a legal-style protasis that generalizes the offense to any person. The paired Peal imperfects yippēl {יִפֵּל | yippēl} ‘fall down’ and wə-yisgud {וְיִסְגֻּד | wə-yisgud} ‘and worship’ form a coordinated requirement, joining the bodily act with the cultic act. The phrase bah-shaʿtā {בַּהּ שַׁעֲתָא | bah-šaʿtā} ‘at that moment’ (with a feminine suffix referring back to “the hour/time”) functions as an immediacy marker, tightening the consequence to the same instant as disobedience. The passive Ithpeel yitremēʾ {יִתְרְמֵא | yitremēʾ} ‘he will be thrown’ keeps the agent implicit and spotlights the certainty of punishment. The destination phrase lə-gôʾ-attûn {לְגוֹא אַתּוּן | lə-gôʾ-attûn} ‘into the midst of a furnace’ intensifies the threat by specifying the most dangerous location, while nūrā yaqidtā {נוּרָא יָקִדְתָּא | nūrā yaqidtā} ‘fire, burning’ stacks near-synonymous heat imagery to heighten severity. English renders the condition-result structure with clear future consequence while retaining the decree’s terse urgency. |