| 18. Linguistic Exegesis The opening nominative sequence shoftim {שֹׁפְטִים | šō-p̄ə-ṭîm} ‘judges’ and the coordinated noun ve-shotrim {וְשֹֽׁטְרִים | wə-šō-ṭər-îm} ‘officers’ establish parallel administrative roles. The verb titen-lekha {תִּתֶּן־לְךָ | tit-ten-lə-ḵā} in the qal imperfect second person masculine singular expresses a direct obligation. The locative construct be-khol-sheʿarekha {בְּכָל־שְׁעָרֶיךָ | bə-ḵōl-šə-ʿā-rê-ḵā} “in all your gates” situates this command at city centers. The relative clause introduced by asher {אֲשֶׁר | ’ă-šer} connects to the divine provision motif, where the LORD your God {יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ | Yᵊ-hō-wāh ’ĕ-lō-hê-ḵā} with the participle noten {נֹתֵן | nō-ṯēn} “gives” confirms land allocation. The prepositional phrase li-shvatekha {לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ | li-šə-ḇā-ṯê-ḵā} “for your tribes” extends jurisdiction. The vav-consecutive imperfect ve-shafetu {וְשָׁפְטוּ | wə-šā-p̄ə-ṯû} resumes action: “and they shall judge,” followed by the direct object et-ha’am {אֶת־הָעָם | ’et-hā-‘ām} “the people.” The construct chain mishpat-tzedek {מִשְׁפַּט־צֶדֶק | miš-pāṭ-ṣe-ḏeq}, “judgment of justice,” specifies the qualitative standard. The English translation preserves Hebrew clause order and retains key legal terms to reflect the formal structure. |