| 12. Linguistic Exegesis This verse features three conditional clauses introduced by ki {כִּי | kî} ‘for/when’, first expressing divine refusal and then shifting to adversative judgment. The iterative Qal imperfect verbs yāṣûmū {יָצֻמוּ | yāṣûmū} ‘they fast’ and yaʿălû {יַעֲלוּ | yaʿălû} ‘they offer’, together with the Qal participles šōmēaʿ {שֹׁמֵעַ | šōmēaʿ} ‘listening’ and rōṣām {רֹצָם | rōṣām} ‘accepting’, convey ongoing ritual actions met by the negation particle ʾênēnnî {אֵינֶנִּי | ʾênēnnî} ‘I do not’ placed before each predicate to emphasize refusal. The final clause deploys the prepositional phrases baḥereb {בַּחֶרֶב | baḥereb} ‘by the sword’, ū-rā‘āḇ {וּבָרָעָב | ū-rā‘āḇ} ‘and by famine’, and ū-bā-dēver {וּבַדֶּבֶר | ū-bā-dēver} ‘and by pestilence’ as cumulative instruments of judgment. The independent pronoun ʾānōḵî {אָנֹכִי | ʾānōḵî} intensifies divine agency, and the Piel participle məḵallêh {מְכַלֶּה | məḵallêh} ‘consuming’ denotes decisive destruction. English rendering preserves the Hebrew clause order, uses finite verbs for participles, and maintains the conditional and adversative relationships through conjunctions and semicolons. |