| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with ve’ish {וְאִישׁ | wə-ʾîš}: ‘man’, establishing the subject. The negation particle lo {לֹא | lō}: ‘not’ recurs before each verb honah {הוֹנָה | hō-nāh}: ‘oppress’, chaval {חָבָל | ḥā-ḇāl}: ‘take a pledge’, and gazal {גָזָל | gā-zāl}: ‘rob’, forming a structured series of prohibitions. The noun ugezela {וּגְזֵלָה | û-gə-zē-lāh}: ‘robbery’ links the legal prohibition to verbal action. The positive clause lachmo lera‘ev natan {لַחְמוֹ لְרָעֵב נָתָן | laḥ-mō lə-rā-ʿēḇ nā-ṯān}: ‘his bread to the hungry he gave’ uses a noun construct chain to indicate beneficiary action. The closing parallel clause ve’erom kissah beged {وְעֵרֹם כִּסָּה־בָגֶד | wə-‘ē-rōm kis-sāh ba-ged}: ‘and naked he covered with a garment’ balances the moral structure, contrasting forbidden acts with required benevolence. |