| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs mah {מָה | mā} ‘what/how’ to introduce a pair of parallel rhetorical questions. Each question features a Qal imperfect first person singular verb—ekkōv {אֶקֹּ֔ב | ʾeq-qōḇ} ‘shall I curse’ and ezʿōm {אֶזְעֹ֔ם | ʾez-ʿōm} ‘shall I denounce’—followed by the negative particle lo {לֹא | lōʾ} with a perfect verb—qab-bō {קַבֹּה | qab-bō} ‘has cursed’ and za-ʿam {זָעַם | za-ʿam} ‘has denounced’—forming stative perfects that assert completed divine decrees. The conjunction û {וּ־ | û} initiates the second question and reinforces the exact parallelism. The alternating divine names ʾēl {אֵל | ʾēl} and Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yə-hō-wāh} in corresponding clauses underline that both cursing and denouncing originate entirely in the divine will. The English rendering preserves the Hebrew’s interrogative parallel structure, highlighting that cursing or denouncing apart from divine initiative is impossible. |