| 27. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with velakhem {וְלָכֶם | wə-lā-khem} ‘and to you’, marking an accusatory address. The interrogative prefix in hanishma {הֲנִשְׁמַע | han-nîš-maʿ} ‘shall it be heard?’ forms a rhetorical question that introduces the infinitive clause laasot {לַעֲשֹׂת | la-ʿă-śôṯ} ‘to do’ plus kol haraah hagedolah hazot {כָּל־הָרָעָה הַגְּדוֹלָה הַזֹּאת | kol hā-rā-ʿāh ha-gedō-lāh ha-zōt} ‘all this great evil’ as the proposed action. The parallel infinitives limaol {לִמְעֹל | lim-ʿōl} ‘to act unfaithfully’ and lehoshiv {לְהֹשִׁיב | le-hō-šîv} ‘to bring in’ link covenant breach to the entry of nashim {נָשִׁים | nā-shîm} ‘women’ modified by nokhriyot {נָכְרִיּוֹת | no-khri-yōt} ‘foreign’. The phrase beeloheinu {בֵּאלֹהֵינוּ | bē-ʾĕ-lō-hê-î-nû} ‘against our God’ specifies the offended party. The succession of infinitives and objects builds cumulative emphasis on communal apostasy. |