| 26. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the demonstrative pronoun zot {זֹאת | zōṯ} ‘this’, establishing parallelism between two nominal clauses. Each clause features a noun + passive participle sequence—ha-etsah ha-yeutsah {הָעֵצָה הַיְּעוּצָה | hā-ʿêṣâ ha-yᵊ-ʿûṣâ} ‘the counsel that is counseled’ and ha-yad ha-netuyah {הַיָּד הַנְּטוּיָה | hā-yāḏ ha-ne-tûyâ} ‘the hand that is stretched out’—serving as the subject. These are followed by prepositional phrases al kol ha-aretz {עַל־כָּל־הָאָרֶץ | ʿal-kol hā-ʾā-reṣ} and al kol ha-goyim {עַל־כָּל־הַגּוֹיִם | ʿal-kol hā-gôyîm}, which define the universal scope. The conjunction ve-zot {וְזֹאת | wə-zōṯ} links the two balanced declarations, reflecting Hebrew parallelism. English rendering mirrors the Hebrew order by using parallel noun phrases and corresponding prepositional expressions to convey comprehensive judgment. |