| 15. Linguistic Exegesis The verse unfolds as two parallel rhetorical questions led by the interrogative mah {מַה | mǎh} ‘what’, each introduced by the conjunction kî {כִּי | kî} ‘that, because’. The first clause centers on the verb form naʿăb·dēnû {נַֽעַבְדֶ֑נּוּ | naʿăb·dēnû} ‘we would serve Him’, expressing potential action; the second employs the causative stem nōʿîl {נּוֹעִיל | nōʿîl} ‘would we profit’, followed by the reflexive stem nip̂gaʿ-bō {נִפְגַּע־בּֽוֹ | nip̂gaʿ-bō} ‘we would entreat Him’ to convey petition. The waw-conjunction ū-mǎh {וּמַה | ū-mǎh} ‘and what’ links the queries, reinforcing the speaker’s skeptical challenge to the value of serving and seeking the divine. |