| 25. Linguistic Exegesis The clause opens with ve-attah {וְאַתָּה | wə-ʾat-tāh} ‘and you’, a fronted address that spotlights the targeted ruler. The three descriptors chalal {חָלָ֣ל | ḥā-lāl} ‘profaned’, rasha {רָשָׁע | rā-šāʿ} ‘wicked’, and nesi {נְשִׂיא | nə-śîʾ} ‘prince’ are stacked in apposition, producing a rapid accusatory portrait: status (“prince”) is framed by corruption (defilement and moral evil). The title nesi yisrael {נְשִׂיא יִשְׂרָאֵל | nə-śîʾ yiśrāʾēl} anchors the accusation in covenant history by naming him as ruler over Israel. The maqqef unit asher-ba {אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֣א | ʾă-šer-bāʾ} ‘who has come’ introduces a defining relative clause; the perfect verb presents the decisive arrival of yomo {יוֹמֹו | yô-mô} ‘his day’, a fixed moment of reckoning. The temporal prepositional phrase be-et {בְּעֵת | bə-ʿēt} ‘at the time’ governs the compact noun sequence avon ketz {עֲוֹ֥ן קֵֽץ | ʿā-wōn qēṣ}, which can be read as a genitive relationship (“iniquity’s end”) or as iniquity reaching its endpoint. The translation renders this as an approaching limit to guilt and rule, while noting that chalal can be understood either as “profaned” or “mortally wounded”; the surrounding moral vocabulary and judgment setting support “profaned/disgraced” as a coherent address to a condemned ruler. |