| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the coordinated nouns atayya {אָתַיָּא | ʾă-ṯay-yā} ‘signs’ and vetimhayya {וְתִמְהַיָּא | wə-tim-hay-yā} ‘and wonders’ in emphatic state, functioning as a definite expression. The fronted relative clause introduced by di {דִּי | dî} specifies the preceding objects: ʿavad immī {עֲבַד עִמִּי | ʿă-ḇaḏ ʿim-mî} ‘has done for me,’ with the divine subject ʾelahā {אֱלָהָא | ʾĕ-lā-hāʾ} understood and intensified by the modifiers ʿelyā {עליא | ʿel-yāʾ} and ʿillāʾā {עִלָּאָה | ʿil-lā-ʾā}. The impersonal construction shepar qadāmāy {שְׁפַר קָדָמַי | šə-par qā-ḏā-may} ‘it seemed good before me’ conveys personal approval, and the infinitive lehachvayah {לְהַחֲוָיָה | lə-ha-ḥă-wā-yā} ‘to declare’ completes the idiom. Formal maintains the impersonal form to reflect the original structure, while dynamic shifts to a personal subject for readability. |