| 27. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the imperative hadal-beni {חַֽדַל־בְּ֭נִי | ḥaḏal-bəni} introducing a warning command, followed by two Qal infinitives, lishmoa {לִשְׁמֹעַ | liš·mō·aʿ} with its object musar {מוּסָ֑ר | mû·sār} and lishgot {לִ֝שְׁג֗וֹת | liš·gō·ṯ} with the prepositional phrase meimrei-daʿat {מֵֽאִמְרֵי־דָֽעַת | mēʾ·im·rê·ḏāʿaṯ}. The serial infinitives form a protasis–apodosis relationship implicit in Hebrew, rendered as a conditional (“If you cease … you will stray”) in English. The contrast between “cease” and “stray” emphasizes reversal from obedience to deviation, and the placement of meimrei-daʿat highlights the source of the moral departure. |