| 7. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the Piʾel perfect uvaqqōtî {וּבַקֹּתִי | ū·vaq·qō·ṯî} ‘and I will make void’, focusing on divine judgment. The direct object marker ʾet {אֶת־ | ʾet} precedes the construct phrase ʿăṣat Yəhūḏāh wə-yə-rūšāla-yim {עֲצַת יְהוּדָה וִירוּשָׁלַיִם | ʿă·ṣat yə·hū·dāh wə·yə·rū·šā·la·yim} ‘counsel of Judah and Jerusalem’, marking it as the target. The locative ba-māqôm ha-zé {בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה | ba·mā·qôm ha·zé} ‘in this place’ grounds the prophecy. The Hiphil perfect wə-hip-pal-tîm {וְהִפַּלְתִּים | wə·hip·pal·tîm} ‘and I will cause them to fall’ conveys causation, followed by parallel prepositional phrases ba-ḥě-rev lī-p̄nê ʾōyvêhēm {בַּחֶרֶב לִפְנֵי אֹיְבֵיהֶם | ba·ḥě·rev lī·p̄nê ʾōy·vê·hēm} ‘by the sword before their enemies’ and ū-ve-yāḏ mevaqšê napšām {וּבְיַד מְבַקְשֵׁי נַפְשָׁם | ū·ve·yāḏ me·vaq·šê nap·šām} ‘and by the hand of those seeking their life’. The final clause wə-nāṭat-tî ʾet-nivlā-tām {וְנָתַתִּי אֶת־נִבְלָתָם | wə·nā·ṭat·tî ʾet·niv·lā·tām} ‘and I will give their corpses’, and its recipients lə-maʾaḵal lə-ʿôf ha-šāmayim {לְמַאֲכָל לְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם | lə·maʾ·a·ḵal lə·ʿôf ha·šā·ma·yim} ‘as food to the birds of the heavens’ and ū-lə-vəhemāt hā-ʾāreṣ {וּלְבֶהֱמַת הָאָרֶץ | ū·lə·və·hem·āt hā·ʾā·reṣ} ‘and to the beasts of the earth’, uses parallelism to underscore total divine retribution. |