| 7. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the Hiphil perfect vahakimoti {וַהֲקִמֹתִ֨י | wă-hă-qî-mō-tî} ‘and I will establish’, where the vav-consecutive projects this committed action forward in the narrative, with the first-person subject understood as the divine speaker. The direct object marker et {אֶת־ | ʾeṯ} introduces beriti {בְּרִיתִ֜י | bə-rî-tî} ‘My covenant’, marking the covenant as the central object of divine initiative. A series of coordinated prepositional phrases—beini {בֵּינִ֣י | bê-nî} and uvenekha {וּבֵינֶ֗ךָ | ū-bê-ne-kā}, followed by uvein zarʿakha achareikha {וּבֵ֨ין זַרְעֲךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ | ū-bêin zar-ʿă-kā ʾa-ḥa-rê-kā}—situates the covenant between God, Abraham, and his seed, with achareikha ‘after you’ extending the promise beyond Abraham’s lifetime. The phrase ledorotam {לְדֹרֹתָ֖ם | lə-ḏō-rō-ṯām} ‘for their generations’ defines the temporal scope, while the lamed clause livrit olam {לִבְרִית עוֹלָם | liḇ-rîṯ ʿō-lām} ‘as an everlasting covenant’ functions epexegetically to specify indefinite duration. The infinitive construct lihyot {לִהְיוֹת | lih-yō-ṯ} introduces purpose, leading into the double lamed frame lekha le’Elohim ulzarʿakha achareikha {לְךָ לֵאלֹהִים וּלְזַרְעֲךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ | lə-kā lê-ʾĕ-lō-hîm ū-lə-zar-ʿă-kā ʾa-ḥa-rê-kā}, which articulates God’s ongoing relational role to both Abraham and his descendants. In English, the original verb-first construction is rendered subject-verb to enhance clarity, and the layered prepositional elements are punctuated to preserve the verse’s intergenerational and covenantal emphasis. |