| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the fronted participle khatum {חָתֻם | ḥāṯûm} ‘sealed’, which functions as a passive descriptor of the object pish‘i {פִּשְׁעִי | piš‘î} ‘my transgression.’ The prepositional phrase bitsror {בִּצְר֣וֹר | biṣrôr} ‘in a bundle’ further develops the image of sins being bound together. The second clause features the waw-consecutive vatitpol {וַתִּטְפֹּל | wattitpōl} ‘and you cover over’, forming a parallel action to the initial sealing. The preposition al-avoni {עַל־עֺוֺנִי | ʿal-ʿăwōnî} ‘upon my iniquity’ identifies the target. These tightly coordinated metaphors convey the comprehensive nature of divine handling and removal of sin. |