| 24. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the Niphal imperfect ye’asef {יֵאָסֵף | yēʾā-sef} ‘he will be gathered’, a divine passive idiom for death. The prepositional phrase el ammav {אֶל־עַמָּיו | ʾel-ʿammāy} ‘to his people’ uses a pronominal suffix to denote kinship. The conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} ‘because’ introduces an explanatory clause, followed by the negative imperfect lo yavo {לֹא יָבֹא | lōʾ yābōʾ} ‘he will not enter’, expressing divine exclusion from promise. The relative asher natatti {אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי | ʾăšer nā-ṭat-tî} ‘which I have given’ recalls covenant grant language. The causative preposition al asher-meritem {עַל אֲשֶׁר-מְרִיתֶם | ʿal ăšer-mə-rî-tem} ‘because you rebelled’ uses the Hifil perfect to indicate deliberate opposition. The particle et with pi {אֶת-פִּי | ʾet-pî} ‘against my mouth’ functions metonymically for spoken command. Finally, lemei Meribah {לְמֵי מְרִיבָה | lə-mê mə-rî-ḇāh} ‘at the waters of Meribah’ specifies the locus of contention. |