| 19. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the prophetic formula koh-amar {כֹּה־אָמַר | kô-’eh-’ā-mar} ‘thus said,’ introducing direct divine speech. The subject Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yə-hô-wāh} ‘LORD’ followed by the dative elai {אֵלַי | ʾê-lay} ‘to me’ establishes the recipient of the command. The infinitive absolute halokh {הָלֹךְ | hā-lôkh} ‘go’ together with the perfect veamadta {וְעָֽמַדְתָּ | wə-‘ā-mad-tā} ‘and stand’ forms an emphatic imperative. The locative phrase beshar beneihaam {בְּשַׁעַר בְּנֵי־הָעָם | bə-ša-‘ar bə-nê hā-‘am} ‘in the gate of the children of the people’ designates the initial position. Two relative clauses asher yavou bo {אֲשֶׁר יָבֹאוּ בּוֹ | ʾă-šer yā-vō-’ū bō} and vaasher yetseu bo {וַאֲשֶׁר יֵצְאוּ בּוֹ | wə-ʾă-šer yê-ṣê-’ū bō} specify the gate used by the kings of Judah. The distributive uvkhol shaarei Yerushalayim {וּבְכֹל שַׁעֲרֵי יְרוּשָׁלָיִם | û-və-ḵôl ša-‘ă-rê Yə-rû-šā-lā-yim} extends the directive to all city gates. Rendering the infinitive absolute plus perfect as coordinated imperatives preserves Hebrew intensity, and the English sequence mirrors the stepwise expansion from a principal gate to all gates. |