| 9. Linguistic Exegesis The warning begins with the imperative hishamer {הִשָּׁמֶר | hiššāmer} ‘beware!’ followed by lekha {לְךָ | ləḵā} ‘for yourself,’ emphasizing personal responsibility. The conjunction pen {פֶּן | pen} ‘lest’ introduces a hypothetical negative scenario expressed by yihyeh {יִהְיֶה | yihyeh} ‘let there be’ a danger of beliyaal {בְלִיַּעַל | bə-liyyaʿal} ‘worthlessness’ in the heart. The infinitive lemor {לֵאמֹר | lêʾmôr} ‘saying’ introduces direct speech with the temporal markers shnat-hasheva {שְׁנַת־הַשֶּׁבַע | še·nat-haš·šē·ḇaʿ} ‘the seventh year’ and hashemitah {הַשְּׁמִטָּה | haš·mîṯ·ṯāh} ‘year of release.’ The idiom ve-raah einekha {וְרָעָה עֵינְךָ | wə-rā·ʿāh ʿêyn·kā} ‘your eye is evil’ conveys grudging intent toward be-achikha haevyon {בְּאָחִיךָ הָאֶבְיוֹן | bə-ʾā·ḥî·ḵā hā·ʾe·ḇyōn} ‘your needy brother.’ The judicial outcome is framed by ve-karah aleikha el Yahweh {וְקָרָא עָלֶיךָ אֶל־יְהוָה | wə-qārāʾ ʿā·leḵā ʾel Yə-hō-wāh} ‘and he will call out against you to the LORD,’ and ve-hayah be-kha chet {וְהָיָה בְךָ חֵטְא | wə-hā·yāh bə·ḵā ḥêṯ·ʾā} ‘and it will become sin in you.’ The Hebrew employs construct chains for temporal phrases and idiomatic verbs to underline the link between inward attitude and social-theological consequence. |