| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the negative particle lo {לֹא | lōʾ} ‘not’ immediately preceding the imperfect verb tiqqach {תִּקַּח | tiqqaḥ} ‘you take’, forming a direct prohibition. The prepositional phrase lekhā {לְךָ | lə-ḵā} ‘for yourself’ personalizes the command toward marriage (ʾiššāh {אִשָּׁה | ʾiššāh} ‘wife’). A vav-consecutive conjunction wə-lōʾ {וְלֹא | wə-lōʾ} ‘and not’ with the imperfect yihyû {יִהְיוּ | yihyû} ‘they will be’ extends the prohibition to offspring: bānîm û-ḇānōṯ {בָנִים וּבָנוֹת | bānîm û-ḇānōṯ} ‘sons and daughters’. The locative expression bammāqōm hazzeh {בַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה | ba-māqōm hazzeh} ‘in this place’ situates the prohibition. Hebrew’s asyndetic stacking of negatives heightens the severity, rendered in English by parallel prohibitive clauses. |