| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the Qal imperfect verb te’ashem {תְּאָשֵׁם | tə·’ā·šēm} ‘she shall be guilty’, which predicates a future state of blame on Samaria {שֹׁמְרוֹן | šōmᵊrōn} as the feminine singular subject. The conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} ‘because’ introduces the perfect martah {מָרְתָה | mārᵊṯāh} ‘she rebelled’, marking a completed covenant breach. The prepositional phrase be’eloheha {בֵּאלֹהֶיהָ | bê·lō·hê·hā} ‘against her God’ specifies the object of defiance. Judgment unfolds through a series of imperfect verbs in Qal and Pual stems—yipolu {יִּפֹּלוּ | yip·pō·lū} ‘they shall fall’, yeruttshu {יְרֻטְּשׁוּ | yə·ruṭ·ṭə·šū} ‘they shall be dashed’, yevukka’u {יְבֻקָּעוּ | yə·vuq·qā·‘ū} ‘they shall be torn open’—with the instrumental bacherav {בַּחֶרֶב | ba·ḥe·rev} ‘by the sword’ indicating means. The objects ‘olal {עֹלְלֵיהֶם | ‘ol·lə·hem} ‘infants’ and haryotav {וְהָרִיּוֹתָיו | hā·rî·yō·ṯāw} ‘pregnant women’ bear pronominal suffixes to show collective possession. The coordinating vav links the parallel clauses, amplifying the sense of total destruction. The English rendering preserves the causal relationship and verb sequence while adapting word order for clarity. |