| 29. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with vayomer {וַיֹּאמֶר | wayyōmer}, a vav-consecutive Qal imperfect marking direct speech. The conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} introduces the reason clause “because you have mocked me,” where hitʿallalt {הִתְעַלַּלְתְּ | hitʿallalt} in the Hitpael stem highlights deliberate mistreatment. Lu {לוּ | lū} signals an unrealized wish, leading into the hypothetical yesh-chereb {יֶשׁ־חֶרֶב | yēš-ḥereb} “there is a sword.” The prepositional phrase beyadi {בְּיָדִי | bə-yādî} specifies the instrument, and the second ki {כִּי | kî} intensifies the statement “for now I would have killed you,” with haragtikh {הֲרַגְתִּיךְ | hăragtîḵ} expressing completed decisive action. English reordering clarifies the causative sequence and preserves the original’s rhetorical build toward the lethal threat. |