| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with two sequential purpose clauses marked by the prepositional-negative complex le-bil-ti {לְבִלְתִּי | lə-bil-ti} ‘so that not’, the first governing the Qal infinitive construct rum-levavo {רוּם־לְבָבוֹ | rūm-lə-vā-vō} ‘to be exalted’ with its object meechav {מֵאֶחָיו | mē-ʾe-ḥāw} ‘his heart above his brothers’, the second governing the Qal infinitive construct sur {סוּר | sūr} ‘to turn aside’. The phrase min-hamitzvah {מִן־הַמִּצְוָה | min-hā-mits-wāh} ‘from the commandment’ is followed by the coordinated objects yamin {יָמִין | yā-min} ‘right’ and ushemol {וּשְׂמֹאול | ū-sĕ-mō-ʾôl} ‘left’, creating an exhaustive orientation. The Hifil imperfect ya’arikh {יַאֲרִיךְ | yā-ʾǎ-rîḵ} ‘he may prolong’ with its object yamim {יָמִים | yā-mîm} ‘days’ and its adverbial complement al-mamlekhto {עַל־מַמְלַכְתּוֹ | ʿal-mam-lak-tô} ‘over his kingdom’, specified by hu {הוּא | hūʾ} ‘he’ and u-vanav {וּבָנָיו | ū-vā-nāw} ‘and his sons’, forms the result clause. The locative phrase be-kerev Yisrael {בְּקֶרֶב יִשְׂרָאֵֽל | bə-qé-reḇ yis-rā-ʾēl} ‘among the people of Israel’ frames the promise in a corporate context, while the parallel le-bil-ti clauses emphasize intentional prevention of pride and disobedience. |