| 27. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the interjection vehinneh {וְהִנֵּה | wə-hin-nēh} ‘behold’. A vav-consecutive sequence natiti {נָטִיתִי | nā-ṭî-tî} ‘I have stretched’ (Qal perfect) followed by vaegra {וָאֶגְרַע | wā-ʾe-graʿ} ‘and I diminished’ (Qal imperfect with vav consecutive) establishes a step-by-step portrayal of divine action. The instrument yadi {יָדִי | yā-ḏî} ‘my hand’ signals personal agency. The clause vaetnekh benefesh sonotayikh {וָאֶתְּנֵךְ בְּנֶפֶשׁ שֹׂנְאוֹתַיִךְ | wā-ʾet-nehkh bə-ne-pheš śōn-’ō-tha-yikh} ‘and I gave you over to the desire of those who hate you’ uses the preposition benefesh {בְּנֶפֶשׁ | bə-ne-pheš} ‘desire’ and specifies the agents as benot pelishtim {בְּנוֹת פְּלִשְׁתִּים | bə-nōṯ pə-lish-tîm} ‘daughters of the Philistines’. The participle hanikhlamot {הַנִּכְלָמ֖וֹת | han-nikh-lā-mōṯ} ‘the humiliated’ characterizes these agents, and the construct chain midarkekh zimmah {מִדַּרְכֵּךְ זִמָּֽה | mi-dar-kekh zim-māh} ‘from your way of lewdness’ marks causality. The progression from divine pronouncement through sequential verbs to participial and construct modifiers heightens the rhetorical impact, moving from judgment initiation to public disgrace. |