| 18. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with lo {לֹֽא | lō} ‘not’ followed by the imperfect tiqqṓm {תִקֹּ֤ם | tiqqṓm}, creating a prohibition against retaliation. This is paralleled by the vav-conjunctive negation in ve-lo-tiṭṭṓr {וְלֹֽא־תִטֹּר֙ | wǝ-lō-tiṭṭṓr} ‘and do not bear a grudge’, emphasizing balanced restriction. The direct object marker et {אֶת־ | ʾet} introduces benei {בְּנֵ֣י | bə-nê-yi} ‘sons of’ with ammecha {עַמֶּ֔ךָ | ʿammê-kha} ‘your people’, defining the communal scope. The vav-consecutive in ve-ahavta {וְאָֽהַבְתָּ֥ | wǝ-ʾā·hav·tā́} shifts to the positive command, leading to the equative expression le-reakha {לְרֵעֲךָ֖ | lə-rê-ʿa-kha} ‘to your neighbor’ kamokha {כָּמוֹךָ | kâ-mō-kha} ‘as yourself’, which underscores reciprocal ethics. The closing ani {אֲנִ֖י | ʾǎ-nî́} ‘I am’ and Yəhṓwāh {יְהוָֽה | Yəhṓwāh} ‘LORD’ form a covenant formula that grounds the instructions in divine authority, reinforcing communal harmony through structured parallelism. |