| 23. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the vav-consecutive form veakhalta {וְאָכַלְתָּ֞ | wə-ʾā-kal-tā} ‘and you shall eat,’ which issues a legal obligation. The preposition lifnei {לִפְנֵי | li-fə-nê} ‘before’ introduces the worship context oriented toward Yahweh Eloheikha {יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ | Yə-hō-wāh ʾĕ-lō-hê-kā}. The relative clause bamaqom asher-yivchar {בַּמָּק֣וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַר֮ | ba-mā-qôm ʾă-šer-yiv-ḥar} ‘in the place that He will choose’ with the infinitive construct leshakken shemo {לְשַׁכֵּ֣ן שְׁמוֹ | lə-ša-kên še-mô} ‘to cause His name to dwell’ underscores divine sovereignty in cultic selection. The coordinated series maaser deganekha tiroshkha veyitzharekha {מַעְשַׂר דְּגָנְךָ תִּירֹשְׁךָ וְיִצְהָרֶךָ | ma-ʿă-sar də-gā-nə-ḵā ṯî-rôš-ḵā wə-yit-ḥā-ré-ḵā} ‘tithe of your grain, your new wine and your oil’ and uvechorot bekorkha vetzonekha {וּבְכֹרֹת בְּקָרְךָ וְצֹאנֶךָ | u-və-ḵō-rōt bə-qār-ḵā wə-ṣō-ʾā-nə-ḵā} ‘and the firstborn of your herd and your flock’ displays a meristic accumulation. The purpose clause lema’an tilmad leyirah et-yə-hō-wāh ʾĕ-lō-hê-kā {לְמַעַן תִּלְמַד לְיִרְאָה אֶת־יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ | lə-ma-ʿan ṯil-mad lə-yir-ʾā ʾet-yə-hō-wāh ʾĕ-lō-hê-kā} ‘so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God’ employs an infinitive complement to a modal imperfect with the direct-object marker ’et heightening the didactic focus. The English SVO structure preserves the Hebrew’s sequence of obligation, worship locus, offering list, and instructional purpose. |