| 15. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the waw-prefixed Piel perfect ve-killeti {וְכִלֵּיתִי | və-ḵillêṯî} ‘and I will exhaust,’ framing a prophetic judgment action. This is followed by two coordinated prepositional phrases, baqqir {בַּקִּיר | ba-qîr} ‘on the wall’ and u-vat-tachim {וּבַטָּחִים | u-va-ṭ-ṭā-ḥîm} ‘and on the plasterers,’ forming a meristic pairing of structure and its deceptive coating as objects of wrath. The shift to direct speech comes with ve-omar la-khem {וְאֹמַר לָכֶם | wə-ʾōmar lā-ḵem} ‘and I will say to you,’ which introduces two parallel negative existential clauses: ein haqqir {אֵין הַקִּיר | ʾên ha-qîr} ‘there is no wall’ and ve-ein hatachim oto {וְאֵין הַטָּחִים אֹתֽוֹ | wə-ʾên ha-ṭā-ḥîm ʾōṯō} ‘and there are no plasterers of it.’ This parallelism and repetition underscore total removal. Retaining each waw as “and” preserves the Hebrew’s forensic rhythm and unfolding condemnation. |