| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The address ben-adam {בֶּן־אָדָם | ben-ʾā-ḏām} ‘son of man’ opens as a vocative for Ezekiel. The conditional ki {כִּי | kî} introduces the hypothetical scenario where eretz {אֶרֶץ | ʾe-reṣ} ‘land’ is personified. The imperfect verb techetali {תֶחֱטָא־לִי | te-ḥeṭāʾ-lî} agrees with a feminine subject, and the prepositional phrase lim-al-ma-al {לִמְעָל־מַעַל | li-mə-ʿāl-ma-ʿal} intensifies the betrayal. A series of vav-consecutives (ve-natiti {וְנָטִיתִי | wə-nāṭî-tî}, ve-shavarti {וְשָׁבַרְתִּי | wə-šāḇar-tî}, ve-hishlachti-bah {וְהִשְׁלַחְתִּי־בָהּ | wə-hišlāḥ-tî-bāh}, ve-hichrati {וְהִכְרַתִּי | wə-hiḵ-rā-tî}) marks sequential divine actions. The construct idiom matte-lechem {מַטֵּה־לָחֶם | maṭṭê-leḥem} ‘staff of bread’ symbolizes sustenance, and the final verbs express total devastation of adam {אָדָם | ʾā-ḏām} and u-vehemah {וּבְהֵמָה | ū-ḇə-hē-māh}. |