| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with ve-hannefesh {וְהַנֶּ֗פֶשׁ | wə-han-nĕ-p̄eš} ‘the soul’, serving as the legal subject, followed by the relative clause introduced by asher {אֲשֶׁר | ʾă-šer} ‘who’ and the imperfect tipneh {תִּפְנֶה | tip-p̄ə-nēh} ‘turns’ indicating potential action. The coordinated prepositional phrase el-ha-ovot ve-el-ha-yiddo‘nim {אֶל־הָאֹבֹת וְאֶל־הַיִּדְּעֹנִים | ʾel hā-ʾō-ḇōṯ wə-ʾel ha-yid-də-ʿō-nîm} highlights forbidden practitioners. The infinitive construct liznot {לִזְנוֹת | liz-nōṯ} ‘to prostitute’ conveys purpose. The vav-consecutive perfects ve-natati {וְנָתַתִּי | wə-nā-ṭat-tî} ‘and I will set’ and ve-hikhrati {וְהִכְרַתִּי | wə-hik-rat-tî} ‘and I will cut off’ form a sequence of judicial actions. The noun panai {פָּנַי | pā-nāy} ‘my face’ signals focused opposition, while ha-hi {הַהִיא | ha-hî-’î} ‘that one’ resumes the subject. The construct mi-kerev ‘am-mô {מִקֶּרֶב עַמּוֹ | mi-qer-ev ‘am-mô} ‘from the midst of his people’ indicates communal removal. The formal translation preserves Hebrew word order for solemnity; the dynamic adapts to natural English. |