| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with velo {וְלֹא | wə-lō} ‘and not’ followed by the Qal imperfect yidbak {יִדְבַּק | yid-baḳ} ‘it will cling,’ expressing a strong negative command. The locus phrase be-yadkha {בְּיָדְךָ | bə-yā-d-kha} ‘in your hand’ takes meummah {מְאוּמָה | mə-ʾū-mā} ‘anything’ as its object, constrained by the ban min + hache-rem {מִן־הַחֵרֶם | mē-ḥă-rôn} ‘from the devoted thing.’ A purpose clause introduced by lemaan {לְמַעַן | lə-ma-ʿan} governs the imperfect yashuv {יָשׁוּב | yā-šūv} ‘he may turn,’ with Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yə-hō-wāh} as subject and the source phrase mecharon appo {מֵחֲרוֹן אַפּוֹ | mē-ḥă-rôn ʾap-pō} ‘from the burning of his anger.’ The consecutive vav-verb sequence venatan {וְנָתַן | wə-nā-ṭān}, verichamkha {וְרִיחַמְךָ | wə-ri-ḥam-khā}, vehirbekha {וְהִרְבֶּךָ | wə-hir-be-khā} describes cumulative divine actions. The oath clause begins with kaasher {כַּאֲשֶׁר | ka-ʾă-šer} ‘as,’ followed by the perfect nishba {נִשְׁבַּע | niš-bāʿ} ‘he swore’ and laavotekha {לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ | la-ʾă-vo-te-khā} ‘to your fathers,’ anchoring the promise in the ancestral covenant. The interplay of negation, purpose, result, and oath clauses underscores a conditional promise of divine mercy and blessing. |