| 24. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the causal preposition yaʿan {יַעַן | yāʿăn} ‘because’, linking the subsequent enumerated sins directly to divine commands. The construct noun mishpatai {מִשְׁפָּטַי | mišpāṭāy} ‘my judgments’ bears a first person singular suffix marking divine ownership, immediately followed by the Qal perfect lo-asu {לֹא־עָשׂוּ | lō-ʿāśû} ‘they did not’, which denotes completed refusal. Conjoined by vechukkotai {וְחֻקֹּתַי | wə-ḥukkôṯāy} ‘and my statutes’ (another construct with pronominal suffix) and maʾasu {מָאַסוּ | māʾôsû} ‘they despised’ (Qal perfect), the text intensifies contempt for the law. The direct object marker within veʾet-shabbatotai {וְאֶת־שַׁבְּתוֹתַי | wə-’eṯ-šabbətôṯāy} ‘and my Sabbaths’ precedes the Piel perfect hilelû {חִלֵּלוּ | ḥillelû} ‘they profaned’, heightening the sense of deliberate desecration. Finally, the clause veʾaḥārê gilûlē ’āḇôṯām hāyû ’êynēhēm {וְאַחֲרֵי גִּלּוּלֵי אֲבוֹתָם הָיוּ עֵינֵיהֶם | wə-’aḥārê gilûlē ’āḇôṯām hāyû ’êynēhēm} ‘and after the idols of their fathers were their eyes’ employs a vav + preposition sequence with topical fronting of the prepositional phrase to emphasize the people’s idolatrous focus. |