| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the infinitive construct phrase haker panim {הַכֵּר־פָּנִים | ha-kêr pâ-nîm} ‘to show partiality’ serving as the subject. The negator lo {לֹא | lōʾ} precedes the predicate adjective tov {טוֹב | ṭôḇ}, yielding an emphatic negative statement. The coordinating conjunction veʿal {וְעַל | wə-ʿal} introduces the second clause “and for a piece of bread,” where the noun phrase pat lechem {פַּת־לֶחֶם | paṯ leḥem} denotes minimal temptation. The verb yipsha {יִפְשַׁע | yipšaʿ} in the imperfect conveys the prospective action “will transgress,” with gever {גָּבֶר | gāver} as the subject. English translation shifts the infinitive phrase to a gerundial subject (“showing partiality”) for natural syntax, and maintains parallelism by preserving the adversative relationship between clauses. |