| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse uses three successive Qal perfect verbs—sam {שָׂ֥ם | šām} ‘he made’, hā-rās {הָרָ֑ס | hā-rās} ‘he destroyed’, and lō-pā-ṭaḥ {לֹא־פָ֥תַח | lō-pā-ṭaḥ} ‘he did not open’—to underscore decisive and irreversible judgment. The prepositional phrase ka-mid-bār {כַּמִּדְבָּ֖ר | kă-mid-bār} ‘like a wilderness’ intensifies the scope of desolation, while the construct chain wə-‘ārāv {וְעָרָ֣יו | wə-‘ārāv} ‘and its cities’ directly ties urban ruin to the world (tēvél {תֵּבֵ֛ל | tēvél} ‘world’). Positioning ’ă-sî-rāv {אֲסִירָ֖יו | ’ă-sî-rāv} ‘his prisoners’ before the negative lō-pā-ṭaḥ emphasizes the merciless refusal to liberate. The final noun bā-yə-ṯāh {בָּֽיְתָה | bā-yə-ṯāh} ‘house’ with locative he evokes a sanctuary barred to those in bondage. The parallel structure of world/cities and prisoners/house heightens poetic emphasis, a pattern mirrored in both English reconstructions. |