| 23. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive verb phrase va-tomer {וַתֹּאמֶר | va-ṭō-mer} “and she said,” introducing direct discourse by ishto {אִשְׁתּוֹ | ʾîšt-tô} “his wife.” The conditional lu {לוּ | lū} paired with the perfect chafetz {חָפֵץ | ḥā-pêṣ} “he desired” establishes a counterfactual protasis, followed by the Hiphil infinitive construct lahamitenu {לַהֲמִיתֵנוּ | la-hă-mî-ṯê-nû} “to put us to death,” expressing purpose. The sacrificial terms olah {עֹלָה | ʿō-lā} and minchah {מִנְחָה | min-ḥā} are subordinated under the negated perfect lo-lakakh {לֹא־לָקַח | lō-lā-qāḥ} “did not take,” underscoring divine restraint. Successive negative clauses ve-lo heraʾenu {וְלֹא הֶרְאָנוּ | wə-lō he-rā-ʾê-nû} “and did not show us” and hishmiʾenu {הִשְׁמִיעָנוּ | hi-šmî-ʿā-nu} “cause us to hear” pivot on the demonstrative kazot {כָּזֹאת | kâ-zôt} “like this.” The Hebrew if–then–nor structure is retained to preserve logical progression. |