| 11. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the vav-consecutive verb va-etten {וָאֶתֵּן | wā-ʾet-tēn} ‘and I gave,’ establishing a sequential divine action. The markers et {אֶת־ | ʾēt} and ve-et {וְאֶת־ | wə-ʾet} introduce chukkotai {חֻקֹּתַי | ḥuq-qō-ṯai} ‘statutes’ and mishpatay {מִשְׁפָּטַי | miš-pā-ṭai} ‘judgments,’ both with first person singular suffixes indicating divine ownership. The Hifil perfect hodaʿti {הוֹדַעְתִּי | hō-daʿ-ti} ‘I made known’ conveys authoritative instruction. The relative clause introduced by asher {אֲשֶׁר | ʾă-šer} links proper observance (yaʿaseh otam {יַעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם | ya-ʿă-seh ʾō-ṯām} ‘does them’) with the outcome of life (vachai vahem {וָחַי בָּהֶם | wā-ḥai bā-hēm} ‘he lives in them’). The perfect form with vav-consecutive in vachai denotes a future result, and the prepositional phrase vahem specifies the means of life as obedience to these commandments. |