| 21. Linguistic Exegesis lo {לֹא | lōʾ} ‘not’ begins the verse with emphatic negation preceding shalakhti {שָׁלַחְתִּי | šā-lā-ḥtî} ‘I sent,’ while et {אֶת־ | ʾet} marks the direct object hanneviim {הַנְּבִאִים | han-nə-vî-ʾîm} ‘the prophets.’ The conjunction ve {וְ | wə-} plus hem {הֵם | hêm} and ratsu {רָצוּ | rā-ṣū} ‘ran’ highlights human initiative contrary to divine commission. The pattern repeats with lo {לֹא | lōʾ} + dibarti {דִבַּרְתִּי | dib-bā-r-tî} ‘I spoke’ + aleihem {אֲלֵיהֶם | ʾă-lê-hēm} ‘to them’ + ve {וְ | wə-} hem nibau {נִבָּאוּ | nibbāʾû} ‘they prophesied,’ forming a chiastic parallelism that contrasts divine silence with unauthorized prophecy. The original VSO order creates emphasis, and the English SVO rendering maintains the parallel structure for clarity. |