| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs synonymous parallelism between even {אֶבֶן | ʾeḇen} ‘stone’ and va-even {וָאֶבֶן | wāʾeḇen} ‘and stone,’ mirrored by eifah {אֵיפָה | ʾêp̄āh} ‘ephah’ and ve-eifah {וְאֵיפָה | wəʾêp̄āh} ‘and ephah,’ forming a chiastic structure that highlights fraudulent trade. The genitive construct to’avat Yahweh {תוֹעֲבַת | tôʿăḇāṯ} ‘abomination of the LORD’ signals strong divine condemnation. The emphatic particle gam {גַּם | gam} ‘also’ with shenehem {שְׁנֵיהֶם | šənêhêm} ‘both of them’ functions as a resumptive clause that inclusively binds both practices under judgment. The English translations render this explicit through the phrase “both of them” and convey the intensifier “also” to reflect the Hebrew emphasis. |