| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with vav consecutive verbs in va’a’idah {וָאָעִ֣ידָה | wā-ʾā-ʿî-dāh} ‘and I warned’ and va’omerah {וָאֹמְרָ֤ה | wā-ʾō-mə-rāh} ‘and I said,’ marking narrative sequence. The participle lenim {לֵנִים֙ | lē-nîm} ‘are lodging’ conveys ongoing action that prompts the rebuke. Interrogative maddua’ {מַדּ֜וּעַ | mad-dû-ʿaʿ} ‘why’ introduces an emphatic challenge. The conditional im-tishnu {אִם־תִּשְׁנ֕וּ | ʾim-tiš-nû} ‘if you do again’ sets the terms of a warning. The idiom yad eshlach bakhem {יָ֖ד אֶשְׁלַ֣ח בָּכֶ֑ם | yād ʾeš-lă-ḥ bā-ḵem} literally “hand I will send against you” signals an exercise of authority. Finally, the temporal clause min-ha-et hahi lo-va’u ba-shabbat {מִן־הָעֵ֣ת הַהִ֔יא לֹא־בָ֖אוּ בַּשַׁבָּֽת׃ | min-hā-ʿēt ha-hîy lō-ḇā-ʾû ba-šab-bāṯ} ‘from that time they did not come on the Sabbath’ indicates the warning’s effect. The English reorders the direct question and threat for clarity while preserving Hebrew syntactic emphases. |