| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the interrogative mah {מַה | mah} ‘what’, posing a direct challenge to the community. The prepositional phrase la-khem {לָּכֶ֗ם | lā-khem} ‘to you’ narrows the address to the people of Israel. The participle mo-šəlīm {מֹֽשְׁלִים | mō-šə-līm} functions as a cognate object construction, stressing the active citation of an existing saying. The deictic haz-zeh {הַזֶּ֔ה | haz-zeh} ‘this’ plus the noun mashal {מַשָּׁל | māšāl} ‘proverb’ marks a known adage, while the infinitive le-ʾmôr {לֵאמֹ֑ר | le-ʾmôr} ‘to say’ introduces a subordinate clause. That clause, avot yō-kə-lū bō-sēr {אָבוֹת יֹאכְלוּ בֹסֶר | ʾă-vōṯ yō-kə-lū bō-sēr} and wə-šinnê hab-bā-nîm ti-qē-nāh {וְשִׁנֵּי הַבָּנִים תִּקְהֶינָה | wə-šinnê hab-bā-nîm ti-qē-nāh}, coordinates parental action with children’s consequence. The use of imperfect verbs across both clauses conveys an ongoing cultural belief in generational responsibility. |