| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conjunction vav {וְ | wə} marking a contrastive connection. The noun phrase veachai {וְאַחַי | wə-ʼaḥay} ‘my brothers’ is qualified by the relative pronoun asher {אֲשֶׁר | ʾă-šer} ‘who’, which introduces the verb alu {עָלוּ | ʿā-lû} ‘went up’ immi {עִמִּי | ʿim-mî} ‘with me’. The Hifil perfect himsiu {הִמְסִ֖יו | him-sî-û} ‘caused to melt’ takes an object marked by et- {אֶת־ | ʾet-} with lev {לֵב | lē-ḇ} ‘heart’ and the noun haam {הָעָם | hā-ʿām} ‘the people’. A second vav introduces an adversative clause with the emphatic pronoun veanokhi {וְאָנֹכִי | wə-ʼānōkhî} ‘but I’. The Piel perfect milleiti {מִלֵּ֔אתִי | mil-lê-ṯî} ‘I fully followed’ intensifies the subject’s resolve, and the preposition acharei {אַחֲרֵי | ʾă-ḥărê} indicates direction toward Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yə-hō-wāh} and Elohai {אֱלֹהָי | ʾĕ-lō-hāy}, preserving the adversative structure in English. |