| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conjunction ki {כִּי֩ | kî} ‘for,’ introducing the formulaic marker ko {כֹה | kō} ‘thus’ plus amar {אָמַר | ʾā-mar} ‘says.’ The compound title adonai yehovah {אֲדֹנָי יְהֹוִ֗ה | ʾă-dō-nāy yəhôwāh} asserts divine authority. The adversative af ki-arbaʿat {אַף כִּֽי־אַרְבַּעַת | ʾaf kî-ʾar-baʿ-at} serves as a comparative intensifier ‘how much more when four of.’ In the protasis, shillachti {שִׁלַּחְתִּי | šil-lach-tî} ‘I have sent’ governs el-yerushalayim {אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלָיִם | ʾel-yerû-ša-lā-yim} and is followed by the Hiphil purpose infinitive lehachrit {לְהַכְרִית | lə-hak-hrît} ‘to cut off.’ The series cherev, verav, vechayyah raah, vadever unfolds in stepwise parallelism, each calamity intensifying the threat before concluding with man and animal. |