| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with vechi {וְכִי | wə-ḵî} ‘and when,’ a protasis introducing a hypothetical scenario. The imperfect verb tomar {תֹאמַר | tōʾmar} indicates anticipated internal speech, scoped by the prepositional phrase bilvavekha {בִּלְבָבֶךָ | bil-vā-ḇe-ḵā} ‘in your heart,’ highlighting private deliberation. The interrogative eikhah {אֵיכָה | ʾê·ḵāh} frames the question, followed by nedaʿ {נֵדַע | nê·ḏāʿ} ‘will we know,’ implying collective discernment. The particle et {אֶת | ʾet} marks hadavar {הַדָּבָר | haddāvar} ‘the message’ as the direct object, while asher {אֲשֶׁר | ʾă·šer} ‘which’ and the negation lō {לֹא | lō} plus the Piel perfect dibbərô {דִבְּר֖וֹ | dibbərô} ‘he has spoken it’ form a relative clause defining prophetic authenticity. The sequence closes with the divine name Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yə-hō-wāh} as the subject, emphasizing the LORD’s authority. The fronted object marker et and the emphatic placement of the divine name at the end reinforce the focus on discerning true prophecy. |