| 23. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the predicate nominative construction toavat {תּוֹעֲבַת | tô-ʿă-vat} ‘abomination’ followed by the genitive Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yə-hō-wāh} ‘of the LORD,’ establishing divine judgment. The phrase even vaaven {אֶבֶן וָאָבֶן | ʾe-ven wā-ʾā-ven} repeats ‘stone’ to frame contrasting weights—a feature of Hebrew poetic parallelism. The construct umoaznei mirmah {וּמֹאזְנֵי מִרְמָה | ū-mō-ʾaznê mir-māh} ‘balances of deceit’ specifies the fraudulent instruments. Finally, the negative lo tov {לֹא־טוֹב | lōʾ ṯōv} delivers a categorical moral verdict. The two-part structure mirrors the Hebrew parallelism by first identifying the offense and then passing ethical judgment. |