| 34. Linguistic Exegesis The temporal clause bimispar hayamim {בְּמִסְּפָר הַיָּמִים | bə-mis-par ha-ya-mim} ‘by the number of the days’ establishes the proportional punishment principle. The repetition of yom la-šanah {יוֹם לַשָּׁנָה | yom la-šanah} ‘a day for a year’ underscores this equivalence. The verb tishau {תִּשְׂאוּ | ti-sau} in the Qal imperfect conveys enduring guilt, while veyidatem {וִידַעְתֶּם | vi-ya-da-tem} in the Vav-consecutive perfect implies direct experiential knowing. The chiastic progression from measure to personal consequence to divine estrangement in tenuati {תְּנוּאָתִי | te-nu-a-ti} is mirrored by em dashes in English to reflect Hebrew emphasis and parallelism. |