| 19. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the feminine plural verb vatechalelna {וַתְּחַלֶּלְ֨נָה | wa-ṯə-ḥal-lēl-nāh} ‘and you have profaned,’ indicating the addressees desecrate the divine presence. The pronoun ʾôtî {אֹתִי | ʾō-ṯî} ‘Me’ marks the direct object. The prepositional phrase ʾel-ʿammî {אֶל־עַמִּי | ʾel-ʿam-mî} ‘among My people’ sets the sphere of offense. The phrases bǝšaʿālê šǝʿôrîm {בְּשַׁעֲלֵי שְׂעֹרִים | bə-šaʿ-ă-lê šə-ʿō-rîm} ‘for handfuls of barley’ and ū-bǝp̄tōṯê le-ḥem {וּבִפְת֣וֹתֵי לֶחֶם | ū-ḇi(p̄)-ṯō-ṯê le-ḥem} ‘and for pieces of bread’ employ parallel preposition+construct chains highlighting token bribes. Two infinitive clauses—lǝ-hāmîṯ nǝfāšôṯ {לְהָמִית נְפָשׁוֹת | lə-hā-mît nə-fā-šōṯ} ‘to put to death souls’ and ū-lǝḥayyōṯ nǝfāšôṯ {וּלְחַיּוֹת נְפָשׁוֹת | û-lə-ḥay-yōṯ nə-fā-šōṯ} ‘and to keep alive souls’—underscore the perversion of justice, each followed by a relative clause: ʾă-šer lō-ṯə-mûṯênâ {אֲשֶׁר לֹא־תְמוּתֶנָה | ʾă-šer lō ṯə-mû-ṯe-nāh} ‘which should not die’ and ʾă-šer lō-tiḥyênâ {אֲשֶׁר לֹא־תִֽחְיֶינָה | ʾă-šer lō ṯiḥ-yē-nāh} ‘which should not live.’ The instrument is indicated by bǝkazzēḇkem {בְּכַזֶּבְכֶם | bə-kaz-zēḇ-kem} ‘by your lying,’ and the characterization of šomʿê ka-zāḇ {שֹׁמְעֵי כָזָב | šom-ʿê ka-zāḇ} ‘hearers of lies’ highlights the people’s gullibility. Hebrew word order preserves parallelism, while the English translation reorders phrases for clarity. |