לֽוֹ׃

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 לֽוֹ׃

   LO

   against him or to him
2. clause🔊 וְ֝אֶ֗רֶץ מִתְקוֹמָ֘מָ֥ה לֽוֹ׃

   ve-E-rets mit-ko-ma-MA LO

   and earth rising up against him or to him
3. sentence🔊 יְגַלּ֣וּ שָׁמַ֣יִם עֲוֺנ֑וֹ וְ֝אֶ֗רֶץ מִתְקוֹמָ֘מָ֥ה לֽוֹ׃

   ye-gal-LU sha-MA-yim a-vo-NO ve-E-rets mit-ko-ma-MA LO

   they will reveal heavens his iniquity and earth rising up against him or to him

Exegesis

The verse is a tight Hebrew poetic bicola built on parallel clauses: yegallu shamayim avono {יְגַלּוּ שָׁמַיִם עֲוֺנ֑וֹ | yəgallû šāmayim ʿăwōnô} ‘the heavens will reveal his iniquity’ followed by veeretz mitqomamah lo {וְאֶרֶץ מִתְקוֹמָמָה לֽוֹ | wəʾereṣ mitqōmāmāh lô} ‘and the earth will rise up to him.’ The initial verb-first ordering foregrounds the inevitability of exposure, then the subjects “heavens” and “earth” form a merism that encompasses the whole created order as a courtroom-like witness against the wicked.

The lamed phrase lo {לוֹ | lô} ‘to him’ is naturally rendered “against him” because the rising of the earth is adversative within the parallelism and the judicial imagery of accusation. The English keeps the matched verbs (“expose / rise up”) to preserve the force of the parallel lines and the cosmic testimony motif.

Root and etymology

ח־ל־ם🔊 chet–lamed–mem

“to dream”