| 9. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | way-yō-mer} ‘and he said’, introducing divine speech by Elohim {אֱלֹהִים | ʾĕ-lō-hîm}. The prepositional phrase el-Avraham {אֶל־אַבְרָהָם | ʾel-ʾav-rā-hām} marks Abraham as the addressee. The conjunction veatta {וְאַתָּה | wə-ʾat-tā} ‘and you’ functions contrastively and emphatically, focusing on Abraham’s responsibility; this is rendered as “As for you” in the formal reconstruction and “For your part” in the dynamic. The particle et {אֶת | ʾeṯ} introduces beriti {בְּרִיתִי | bə-rî-tî} ‘my covenant’ as the direct object of tishmor {תִּשְׁמֹר | tiš-mōr} ‘you shall keep’, an imperative indicating ongoing obligation. The repeated atta {אַתָּה | ʾat-tā} intensifies personal focus. The coordinated construct ve-zarʿekha {וְזַרְעֲךָ | wə-zar-ʿă-kā} ‘and your offspring’ plus acharekha {אַחֲרֶיךָ | ʾa-ḥa-rê-kā} ‘after you’ extends the obligation to Abraham’s seed, and ledorotam {לְדֹרֹתָם | lə-dō-rō-tām} ‘for their generations’ establishes the covenant’s multi-generational scope. |