| 23. Linguistic Exegesis The prohibition begins with the negative particle lo {לֹא | lōʾ} ‘not’ immediately before the verb taasu {תַעֲשׂוּן | ta-ʿă-śûn} ‘you shall make,’ a formulaic marker of covenant commands. The phrase itti {אִתִּי | ʾit-tî} ‘with me’ functions as a circumstantial complement denoting that no other deities may stand alongside the divine. A parallel construct chain joins elohai kesef {אֱלֹהֵי כֶסֶף | ʾĕ-lō-hê ke-sep} ‘gods of silver’ with veelohai zahav {וֵאלֹהֵי זָהָב | wē-ʾĕ-lō-hê zā-hāḇ} ‘gods of gold,’ spotlighting the materials of typical idols. The second clause echoes lo taasu {לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ | lōʾ ta-ʿă-śû} ‘do not make’ and adds lachem {לָכֶם | lā-ḵem} ‘for yourselves,’ broadening the ban from communal worship items to private devotion. This repetition and parallelism underscore the all-encompassing nature of the idolatry prohibition. |