| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the coordinated expressions venōaḥ {וְנֹ֨חַ | wə-nōaḥ} ‘and Noah’ followed by daniʾel {דָּנִיֵ֣אל | dā-niy-ʾêl} ‘Daniel’ and veʾiyyov {וְאִיּוֹב | wə-ʾiyyôḇ} ‘and Job’, listing three righteous figures. The locative betōkāh {בְּתוֹכָהּ֒ | bə-tō-ḵāh} ‘in its midst’ situates them within the besieged city. The oath ḥay-ʾāni {חַי־אָ֗נִי | ḥay-ʾā-ni} ‘as I live’ introduces a solemn divine oath, followed by the prophetic announcement neʾum adonai Yahweh {נְאֻם֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֔ה | nə-ʾum ʾă-dō-nāy Yə-hō-wāh} ‘declares the LORD GOD’. The dual conditionals ʾim-bēn, ʾim-baṯ {אִם־בֵּ֥ן, אִם־בַּ֖ת | ʾim-bēn, ʾim-baṯ} ‘if a son, if a daughter’ emphasize that neither will be spared. The Hifil verb yaṣ·ṣî·lû {יַצִּ֑ילוּ | yaṣ-ṣî-lû} ‘they would deliver’ paired with hêmāh {הֵ֥מָּה | hē-māh} ‘they’ and the instrumental be·ṣid·qā·ṯām {בְצִדְקָתָ֖ם | bə-ṣid-qā-ṯām} ‘by their righteousness’ underscores the limiting force of personal merit. The final yaṣ·ṣî·lû {יַצִּ֥ילוּ | yaṣ-ṣî-lû} ‘they would deliver’ with nap̄·šām {נַפְשָֽׁם | nap̄-šām} ‘their lives’ reinforces that only individual deliverance is possible. This rendering preserves the Hebrew parallelism and conditional structure while smoothing repetition for clarity. |