| 27. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the causal conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} introducing a reason clause. It employs parallel subject-predicate units: zonah {זוֹנָה | zônâ} ‘prostitute’ paired with shucha {שׁוּחָה | šûḥâ} ‘pit’ modified by amukka {עֲמֻקָּה | ʿămûqqâ} ‘deep’, and nokriyah {נָכְרִיָּה | nôkrîyâ} ‘foreign woman’ paired with be’er {בְּאֵר | bə-ʾêr} ‘well’ modified by tsarah {צָרָה | ṣārâ} ‘narrow’. The vav conjunction u {וּ | wə} links the two warnings, creating cumulative emphasis. The Hebrew VSO order is rendered in English SVO to preserve clarity while maintaining the parallelism. The concealed-trap imagery guided the decision to keep ‘pit’ and ‘well’ in both reconstructions. |