| 7. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conditional particle ki {כִּֽי | kî} ‘if’, followed by the impersonal qal imperfect yihyeh {יִהְיֶה֩ | yiḥ-yéh} ‘there is’. The phrase vekha evyon {בְךָ֨ אֶבְיו֜וֹן | bə-khā ʾeḇ-yôn} ‘among you a poor one’ establishes social obligation. Construct chains in meʾachad akhekha {מֵאַחַ֤ד אַחֶ֙יךָ֙ | mē-ʾă-ḥad ʾa-ḥê-khā} ‘from one of your brothers’ and beʾachad sheʿarekha {בְּאַחַ֣ד שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ | bə-ʾa-ḥad še-ʿā-rê-khā} ‘in one of your gates’ use distributive nuance across the land. The relative clause asher-Yahweh elohekha noten lakh {אֲשֵׁר־יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֣ן לָ֑ךְ | ʾă-šer-Yə-hō-wāh ʾĕ-lō-hê-khā nō-tên lā-khā} ‘that the LORD your God gives you’ grounds the command in divine grant language. The paired prohibitions lo teʾammets velo tikpotz {לֹ֧א תְאַמֵּ֣ץ … וְלֹ֤א תִקְפֹץ֙ | lōʾ tə-ʾam-mêts … wə-lōʾ tiq-pôṣ} ‘you shall not harden… or shut’ employ parallel negatives for emphasis. English rendering shifts to subject–verb–object order, preserving the double negation and distributive force. |