| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the construct chain uveit mishteh {וּבֵית־מִשְׁתֶּה | û-ḇêṯ miš-teh} ‘house of feasting’, establishing a locative for communal celebration. The negative particle lo {לֹא־ | lōʾ} precedes the Qal imperfect verb tavo {תָב֖וֹא | tā-ḇōʾ} ‘you shall go’, enforcing prohibition. The infinitive lashevet {לָשֶׁבֶת | lā-še-ḇeṯ} ‘to sit’ is followed by the pronominal suffix otam {אוֹתָם | ʾō-ṯām} ‘with them’, indicating participatory fellowship. The parallel infinitives le’ekhol {לֶאֱכֹל | le-ʾeḵōl} ‘to eat’ and velishtot {וְלִשְׁתּוֹת | wə-liš-tōṯ} ‘and to drink’ form a triple infinitive sequence that conveys cumulative action forbidden by the decree. The formal translation maintains this sequence to reflect emphasis, while the dynamic translation consolidates the actions into a single participial phrase for readability. |