| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conditional conjunction veʾim {וְאִם | wə-ʾim} ‘and if,’ introducing a warning tied to disobedience. The verb tišmaʿûhā {תִשְׁמָעוּהָ | tiš-ma-ʿû-hā} ‘you listen to it’ (Qal imperfect, second person masculine plural with object suffix) refers to the prophetic message. The phrase bǝmisṭārīm {בְּמִסְתָּרִים | bə-mis-tā-rîm} ‘in secret places’ locates private mourning. The compound tivkeh-nafšî {תִבְכֶּה-נַפְשִׁי | tiv-keh-nap̄-shî} ‘my soul shall weep’ conveys inner grief, amplified by the causal mipnê gēwāh {מִפְּנֵי גֵוָה | mip-nê gē-wāh} ‘because of pride.’ A sequence of imperfect verbs—wə-dā-mō-ʿa {וְדָמֹעַ | wə-dā-mō-ʿa} ‘and it will drip,’ tidmaʿ {תִדְמַע | tid-maʿ} ‘it will weep,’ and wə-tērad {וְתֵרַד | wə-tē-rad} ‘and it will run down’—depicts escalating sorrow, culminating in ʿēnî dim-ʿāh {עֵינִי דִמְעָה | ʿē-nî dim-ʿā} ‘my eye tear.’ Finally, kî {כִּי | kî} ‘because’ links to the Niphal perfect nišbāh {נִשְׁבָּה | niš-bāh} ‘is taken captive,’ explaining that ʿēder Yəhōwāh {עֵדֶר יְהוָה | ʿē-ḏer Yəhōwāh} ‘flock of the LORD’ has been led into exile. The English translation mirrors this layered structure to reflect both the progression of grief and its divine cause. |