| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse presents a protasis-conclusion structure where a series of perfect verbs—heshiv {הֵשִׁיב | hē-šîḇ} ‘he turned back’, lakach {לָקָח | lā-qach} ‘he took’, asah {עָשָׂה | ʿā-śāh} ‘he practiced’, halakh {הָלָךְ | hā-lāḵ} ‘he walked’—enumerate the righteous conduct. The initial prepositional phrase meani {מֵעָנִי | mē-ʿā-nî} modifies heshiv to indicate restraint from exploiting the poor. The coordinated nouns neshekh {נֶשֶׁךְ | ne-šek} and tarbit {תַרְבִּית | tar-bît} function as objects of the negated action lo lakach … lo tarbit, the repetitive lo {לֹא | lō} emphasizing prohibition. The concluding clause contrasts the protasis lo yamut baavon aviv {לֹא יָמוּת בַּעֲוֹן אָבִיו | lō yā-mūt ba-ʿă-vōn ʾā-vîw} ‘he will not die for his father’s iniquity’ with the conclusion chayoh yichyeh {חָיֹה יִחְיֶֽה | ḥā-yō yiḥ-yēh}, where the infinitive absolute chayoh intensifies the imperfect yichyeh to express certainty of life. |