| 30. Linguistic Exegesis The verse consists of a negative main clause lo yavuzu {לֹא־יָב֣וּזוּ | lō yā-vū-zû} ‘they do not despise’ followed by the object la-ganav {לַגַּנָּב | lă-gan-nāb} ‘the thief’. Two causal clauses introduced by ki {כִּי | kî} explain motive: ki yignov le-malle nafsho {כִּי יִגְנ֑וֹב לְמַלֵּ֥א נַפְשׁ֗וֹ} ‘if he steals to satisfy his soul’, and ki yirav {כִּי יִרְעָֽב | kî yir-ʿāḇ} ‘because he is hungry’. The infinitive construct le-malle {לְמַלֵּא | lə-mallēʾ} governs the noun nafsho {נַפְשׁוֹ | nap̄-šō} forming a purpose clause. English preserves causal flow by rendering “if…because” and maintains Hebrew word order to reflect emphasis on need as justification. |