| 1. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the prophetic formula koh amar Yahweh {כֹּה־אָמַר יְהוָה | kō ʾā-mar Yə-hō-wāh} ‘thus said the LORD’, introducing a direct divine command. The recipient is marked by elai {אֵלַי | ʾê-lai} ‘to me’. The sequence halokh veqanita lekha {הָלוֹךְ וְקָנִיתָ לְּךָ | hā-lōḵ wə-qā-nî-tā lə-ḵā} pairs an infinitive absolute with a Qal perfect verb to convey an imperative sequence. The noun ezor {אֵזוֹר | ʾê-zôr} ‘belt’ is modified by pishtim {פִּשְׁתִּים | piš-tîm} ‘linen’. Vesamto {וְשַׂמְתּוֹ | wə-śam-tō} ‘and put it’ governs al motneikha {עַל־מָתְנֶיךָ | ʿal mōṯ-nê-ḵā} ‘upon your loins’, forming a prepositional phrase. The prohibition uvamayim lo tevi’ehu {וּבַמַּיִם לֹא תְבִאֵהוּ | û-va-mā-yim lōʾ tə-ḇi-ʾê-hū} employs a Hiphil imperfect with negation to express avoidant action. Hebrew syntax strings imperatives and prohibitions in tight succession, which in English is rendered as a series of direct commands preserving immediacy. |