| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with ve`attah {וְעַתָּה | wə-ʿat-tāh} ‘and now’, introducing a rhetorical shift to Israel’s increasing guilt. The Hiphil imperfect yosifu + infinitive lachato {יֹסִפוּ לַחֲטֹא | yō-sî-p̄ū lā-ḥă-ṭōʾ} forms an idiom of intensification (‘continue to sin’), underscoring escalation. The wayyiqtol wayya`asu {וַיַּעֲשׂוּ | way-ya-ʿă-śū} then narrates the outcome: deliberate fabrication of a massekah {מַסֵּכָה | mas-sē-ḵāh}, specified by two prepositional phrases—mikkaspam {מִכַּסְפָּם | mik-kas-pām} ‘from their silver’ and kitvunam {כִּתְבוּנָם | kit-vū-nām} ‘according to their design’—highlighting self-reliance rather than divine command. The appositional sequence atsabbim ma`ase charashim {עֲצַבִּים מַעֲשֵׂה חָרָשִׁים | ʿa-tsab-bîm ma-ʿă-śê ḥā-rā-šîm} (‘idols—the work of craftsmen’) underscores their human craft. The resumptive kullah lahem {כֻּלָּהּ לָהֶם | kul-lāh lā-hem} reiterates ownership by the people. The clause hem omrim {הֵם אֹמְרִים | hēm ʾō-mə-rîm} introduces reported speech, and the participle zovkhei adam yishshakun {זֹבְחֵי אָדָם יִשָּׁקֽוּן | zōv-ḥê ʾā-dām yiš-šā-qûn} functions as a slogan: ‘Those who sacrifice humans kiss calves,’ with the imperfect used jussively within the quotation to convey communal acclamation. |