| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the second person pronoun ve-attah {וְאַתָּ֣ה | wə-ʾat-tāh} ‘and you’, followed by the prophetic title ben-adam {בֶן־אָדָם | ben-ʾā-ḏām} ‘son of man’, establishing the addressee’s human role. The verb sim {שִׂ֤ים | śîm} ‘set’ is Qal imperative directing the prophet to adopt a confrontational posture expressed by panekha {פָּנֶ֙יךָ֙ | pā-ne-ḵā} ‘your face’. The prepositional phrase el {אֶל־ | ʾel} marks adversative direction toward the target. The noun phrase benot ammekha {בְּנ֣וֹת עַמְּךָ֔ | bə-nōṯ ʿam-me-kā} ‘the daughters of your people’ is modified by the relative participle hamitnabbe'ot {הַמִּֽתְנַבְּא֖וֹת | ham-mit-nab-bə-ʾōṯ} ‘who prophesy’, indicating an ongoing self-initiated activity. The phrase milibhen {מִֽלִבְּהֶ֑ן | mi-lib-bə-hen} ‘from their own heart’ uses a singular construct noun with a plural suffix to highlight individual intentions. The second imperative ve-hinnave {וְהִנָּבֵ֖א | wə-hin-nā-bēʾ} ‘and prophesy’ (Nifal) introduces the counter-message, with the prepositional phrase aleihen {עֲלֵיהֶֽן | ʿă-lê-hen} ‘against them’ as its object. This syntactic pairing of opposing imperatives underscores the prophet’s role in directly challenging false prophecy. |