| 13. Linguistic Exegesis This verse opens with the vav consecutive plus imperfect vayyamru {וַיַּמְרוּ | way-yam-rū} ‘and they rebelled’, advancing the narrative and contrasting earlier obedience. The prepositional phrase bi {בִי | bî} ‘against Me’ emphasizes a personal affront to Yahweh. The construct chain beit-yisraʼel {בֵית־יִשְׂרָאֵל | bêt-yis-rā-ʾêl} ‘house of Israel’ frames collective responsibility. The setting phrase ba-midbar {בַּמִּדְבָּר | bam-mid-bār} ‘in the wilderness’ recalls the Exodus testing. Verbal contrast between lo-halachu {לֹא־הָלָכוּ | lō-ḥā-lā-ḵū} ‘they did not walk’ and māʼasu {מָאָסוּ | mā-ʾă-sū} ‘they despised’ reinforces disobedience. The core legal terms b’ḥukotai {בְּחֻקֹּתַי | bə-ḥuqqō-ṯay} ‘My statutes’ and v’et-mishpatai {וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַי | wə-ʾeṯ-miš-pā-ṭay} ‘My judgments’ with pronominal suffixes stress covenant authority. The relative clause ʼăšer yaʿăseh ʼōṯam hāʼāḏām wāḥay bāhem {אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם הָאָדָם וָחַי בָּהֶם | ʾă-šer ya-ʿă-seh ʾō-ṯām hā-ʾā-ḏām wā-ḥay bā-hem} ‘which if a person does them, he will live by them’ encodes the principle that obedience grants life. The phrase v’et-šabbətōtay ḥillēlû məʼōḏ {וְאֶת־שַׁבְּתוֹתַי חִלֵּלוּ מְאֹד | wə-ʾeṯ-šab-bə-ṭō-ṯay ḥil-lē-lū mə-ʾōḏ} ‘and they greatly profaned My Sabbaths’ intensifies the offense. The first-person judgment sequence concludes with wāʼōmar lə-šə-pōḵ ḥă-mā-tî ʿă-lê-hem bam-midbār lə-ḵal-lō-ṯām {וָאֹמַר לְשְׁפֹךְ חֲמָתִי עֲלֵיהֶם בַּמִּדְבָּר לְכַלּוֹתָם | wā-ʾō-mar lə-šə-pōḵ ḥă-mā-tî ʿă-lê-hem bam-mid-bār lə-ḵal-lō-ṯām} ‘then I said, “To pour out My wrath upon them in the wilderness to consume them,”’ highlighting Yahweh’s threatened divine judgment. |