| 12. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with ve-atem {וְאַתֶּם | və-ʾat-tem} ‘and you’, directly addressing the audience and establishing contrast with past generations. The Hiphil perfect hareotem {הֲרֵעֹתֶם | hă-rē-ʿō-tēm} with interrogative ha- intensifies the accusation. The infinitive laasot {לַעֲשׂוֹת | la-ʿă-sōṯ} combined with meavoteikhem {מֵאֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם | mē-ʾă-ḇō-tê-ḵem} forms a comparative clause. Vehinnekhem {וְהִנְּכֶ֣ם | wə-hin-nə-ḵem} ‘and behold you’ focuses on the participle holchim {הֹלְכִים | hôl-ḵîm} ‘walking’, which indicates continuous action. The distributive ish {אִישׁ | ʾîš} ‘each one’ underscores personal responsibility. The noun chain acharei sherirut libbo hara {אַֽחֲרֵי שְׁרִר֣וּת לִבּוֹ הָרָע | ʾa-ḥă-rê šə-rî-rût liḇ-bō hā-rāʿ} depicts willful pursuit of an evil inclination. The purpose clause le-vilti shemoa elai {לְבִלְתִּי שְׁמֹעַ אֵלָֽי | lə-vil-tî šə-mō-ʿa ʾē-lāy} uses the negative infinitive to express intended refusal. The English rendition preserves Hebrew parallelism and the comparative and purpose structures through “worse than,” “so as not to,” and “refusing to,” maintaining the emphasis on volitional rebellion. |