| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The clause begins with ugam-ani {וּגַ֣ם־אֲנִ֗י | ûgam-ʾănî} ‘and also I’, where the fronted first-person identification adds emphasis and links this action as an additional step in the surrounding judgment speech. The verb akpeh {אַכְפֶּ֤ה | ʾakpêh} is followed by the vivid prepositional phrase kappay … el-kappay {כַפַּי … אֶל־כַּפַּ֔י | kappay … ʾel-kappay} ‘My hands to My hands’, an idiomatic way of portraying the physical gesture of striking the palms together. The next verb vahanichoti {וַהֲנִחֹתִ֖י | wa-hăniḥōtî} ‘and I will cause to rest’ advances the discourse with a result-oriented action: divine wrath is brought to a settled state, expressed by the object chamati {חֲמָתִ֑י | ḥămātî} ‘My fury’. The renewed self-identification ani Yahweh {אֲנִ֛י יְהוָ֥ה | ʾănî Yəhōwāh} tightens the authority claim, and the closing perfect dibbarti {דִּבַּֽרְתִּי | dibbartî} functions as a performative seal, presenting the pronouncement as fixed and not open to reversal. The English renderings keep the emphatic self-reference and preserve the two coordinated actions (gesture, then wrath-settling) before the climactic divine signature. |