| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The clause opens with vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | way-yō-mer} ‘and he said’, the standard wayyiqtol narrative form introducing direct speech. The subject is the construct phrase choten Mosheh {חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה | ḥō-tēn mō-šeh} ‘father-in-law of Moses’, establishing familial authority. The prepositional phrase elav {אֵלָיו | ʾê-lāw} ‘to him’ marks Moses as the addressee. The evaluative predicate lo tov {לֹא־טוֹב | lōʾ ṭôv} ‘not good’ combines negation with a predicative adjective, emphasizing the judgment. Hadavar {הַדָּבָר | had-dā-vār} ‘the thing’ is specified by the relative clause asher attah oseh {אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה עֹשֶׂה | ʾă-šer ʾat-tāh ʿō-śeh}, where asher introduces the clause, attah highlights Moses’s role, and oseh conveys ongoing action. The structure juxtaposes precise reference to Moses’s conduct with the forceful rebuke, reflected in English by “the thing that you are doing is not good.” |