| 36. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the comparative conjunction kəasher {כְּאֲשֶׁר | kə-ʾă-šer} ‘just as’, establishing a parallel between past and present divine action. The perfect form nishpatti {נִשְׁפַּטְתִּי | niš-pad-tī} ‘I judged’ portrays completed judgment against avoteikhem {אֲבֹותֵיכֶם | ʾă-vo-tei-khem} ‘your fathers.’ The prepositional phrase be-midbar ʾe-reṣ Miṣrayim {בְּמִדְבַּר אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם | bə-mid-bar ʾe-reṣ miṣ-rā-yim} ‘in the wilderness of the land of Egypt’ sets the historical and geographic context. The adverb kēn {כֵּן | kēn} ‘so’ parallels the opening clause and introduces the imperfect form eshpôt {אֶשְׁפֹּט | ʾeš-pōṭ} ‘I will judge,’ shifting the action to the future and reaffirming divine consistency. The object marker etkhem {אֶתְכֶם | ʾet-khem} ‘you’ designates the current audience as the focus of judgment. The prophetic formula neum Adonai Yahweh {נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה | nə-ʾum ʾă-do-nāy Yahweh} ‘declares the Lord GOD’ frames the oracle in authoritative divine speech. English translation adapts Hebrew word order to subject-verb-object and supplies definite articles for readability while preserving the chiastic emphasis and theological force of the original. |