| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with derekh {דְּרֵךְ | də-rēḵ} ‘way’, establishing the theme of route designation, followed by ta'aseh {תַּעֲשֵׂה | ta-‘ă-śēh} ‘designate’, introducing the prophetic command. Lavo {לָבוֹא | lā-ḇô} ‘to come’ links to cherev {חֶרֶב | ḥe-reḇ} ‘sword’, signaling the instrument of judgment. The coordinate structure el־rabbat benei־ammon and vyehudah birushalayim sets dual targets, Rabbah and Judah in Jerusalem, while hamevutzarah {הַמְּבֻצָּרָה | ham-mə-buṣ-ṣā-rāh} ‘the fortified’ highlights the city’s defensive posture despite the looming threat. English preserves the Hebrew parallelism while adapting to a subject-verb-object order for clarity. |