| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the adversative particle af {אַף | ăp} ‘moreover’, intensifying the complaint. This is reinforced by the repeated negation lo {לֹא | lōʼ} ‘not’, which frames the parallel clauses. The prepositional phrase ʾel-ʾereṣ zāḇeṯ ḥālāḇ û-ḏǝ-ḇāš {אֶל־אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ | ʾel-ʾereṣ zāḇeṯ ḥālāḇ û-ḏǝ-ḇāš} specifies the desired destination, with the participle zāḇeṯ ‘flowing’ conveying ongoing abundance. The verbs hă-ḇî-ʾōṯānû {הֲבִיאֹתָנוּ | hă-ḇî-ʾōṯānû} ‘you have brought us’ and wa-ttit-ten-lānû {וַתִּתֶּן־לָנוּ | wa-ttit-ten-lānû} ‘and you have given to us’ form parallel direct-address clauses that heighten the accusatory tone. The construct nāḥă-lat sādēh wa-ḵā-rem {נַחֲלַת שָׂדֶה וָכָרֶם | naḥă-lat sādēh wa-ḵā-rem} binds inheritance, field, and vineyard into a single entitlement. The vivid interrogative te-nak-qêr lō' na-ʿă-lêh {תְּנַקֵּר לֹא נַעֲלֶה | tǝ-nak-qêr lō' na-ʿă-lêh} uses the Piel imperfect ‘will you gouge out’ followed by the emphatic refusal ‘we will not go up’, merging rhetorical question and categorical denial to express communal defiance. |