| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative shifts into direct speech with the vav-consecutive verb vayomer {וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | way-yō-mer} ‘and he said,’ followed by the subject yirmeyahu {יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ | yir-mə-yā-hû} ‘Jeremiah’ and the prepositional phrase alehem {אֲלֵיהֶ֑ם | ʾă-lê-hem} ‘to them,’ indicating the first audience. The demonstrative koh {כֹּה | kō} ‘thus’ introduces a prophetic formula, and the Qal imperfect toʾmerun {תֹאמְרֻ֖ן | tōʾmərun} ‘you shall say’ issues a second-person plural command. The construct el-tsidqiyahu {אֶל־צִדְקִיָּהוּ | ʾel-ṣid-qî-yā-hû} ‘to Zedekiah’ identifies the ultimate recipient, marking an authoritative transition from narrative report to prophetic instruction. |