| 18. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the purpose marker lema‘an {לְמַעַן | lə-ma-ʿan} ‘in order that’, initiating a result clause. The negated imperfect lo-ye-lammedu {לֹא־יְלַמְּדוּ | lō-yə-lam-mə-ḏū} ‘they will not teach’ governs the direct object etkhem {אֶתְכֶם | ’et-khem} ‘you’, leading to the infinitive construct la-ʿă-śôt {לַעֲשׂוֹת | la-ʿă-śôt} ‘to do’, which expresses purpose. The object phrase kekol to-ʿă-vō-ṯām {כְּכֹל תּוֹעֲבֹתָם | kə-kōl tō-ʿă-vō-ṯām} ‘like all their abominations’ functions as the complement of the infinitive, and the relative clause ’ă-šer ʿā-sû leleheihem {אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ לֵאלֹהֵיהֶם | ’ă-šer ʿā-sû lē-’ĕ-lō-hē-hēm} ‘which they have done for their gods’ specifies those practices. The vav-consecutive vachatatem {וַחֲטָאתֶם | wa-ḥă-ṭā-tem} ‘and you have sinned’ indicates the ensuing consequence, culminating in ladonai elokeikhem {לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם | la-Yahweh ’ĕ-lō-hê-khem} ‘against the LORD your God’, thereby underscoring the covenantal breach. |