| 18. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with the vav-consecutive sequence wayya‘an {וַיַּעַן | wăy·yə·‘ăn} ‘and he answered’ followed by wayyomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wăy·yō·mer} ‘and he said’, linking the narrative to direct speech. The conditional im yiṯten li {אִם־יִתֶּן־לִ֥י | ʾim-yiṯ·ten-lî} ‘if he gives to me’ establishes an unrealized hypothesis intensifying the offer. The construct chain mĕlōʾ bē·ṯō {מְלֹא בֵיתוֹ | mə·lōʾ-bê·ṯō} ‘fullness of his house’ reinforces magnitude. The object marker et precedes pi {אֶת־פִּי | ʾet-pî} ‘mouth/command’, a metaphor for divine utterance. The infinitive la·‘ă·ḇôr {לַעֲבֹר | la·‘ă·ḇôr} ‘to transgress’ functions as a purposive infinitive indicating breach. The merism qə·ṭan·nā ʾō ḡə·dō·lā {קְטַנָּה אוֹ גְדוֹלָה | qə·ṭan·nā ʾō ḡə·dō·lā} ‘small or great’ expresses total scope. These structures guided the choice to maintain legal weight in the formal text and convey idiomatic clarity in the dynamic version. |