Jeremiah 18:23 — ExegesisTAB

The verse opens with the emphatic conjunction ve-attah {וְאַתָּה | wə-ʾat-tā} ‘and You,’ spotlighting the divine addressee. The perfect yadata {יָדַעְתָּ | yā-ḏaʿ-tā} takes the object-marker et {אֶת־ | ʾeṯ} plus kol atzatam {כָּל־עֲצָתָם | kôl ʿă-ṣā-ṯām} ‘all counsel,’ while alai {עָלַי | ʿā-lay} ‘against me’ and la-mavet {לַמָּוֶת | la-mā-weṯ} ‘for death’ specify hostile intent. Two jussive negatives, al-tekhaper {אַל־תְּכַפֵּר | ʾal-tə-kap-pēr} and al-timcheh {אַל־תֶּמְחִי | ʾal-tə-mə-ḥî}, forbid divine pardon or erasure. The Hophal participle mukshalim {מֻכְשָׁלִים | muk-shā-lîm} ‘caused to stumble’ and the imperative aseh bahem {עֲשֵׂה בָהֶם | ʿa-sê bā-hem}, introduced by the temporal be-et appekha {בְּעֵת אַפְּךָ | bə-ʿēt ap-pə-ḵā} ‘in the time of Your anger,’ frame the imprecatory petition. The Qere/Ketiv distinction (vehayu/ve-yahiyu) underscores the shift from narrative “and they were” to legal-prayer “and let them be.”