| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with hakol {הַכֹּ֥ל | hak-kōl} ‘all, everyone’ as the universal subject, followed by the Qal perfect verb sar {סָר֮ | sār} ‘has turned aside,’ which asserts a completed moral departure. The adverb yachdav {יַחְדָּ֢ו | yaḥ-dāv} ‘together’ modifies the Niphal perfect neelachu {נֶ֫אֱלָ֥חוּ | ne-ʾe-lā-ḥū} ‘have become corrupt,’ emphasizing collective moral failure. The second clause employs the negative existential particle ēn {אֵ֤ין | ʾēn} in ein ōseh-tôv {עֹֽשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב | ʿō-sēh ṭôv} ‘there is no one who does good,’ where the participle and its object denote ongoing moral action. This negation is intensified by the repetition ēn gam-echad {גַּם־אֶחָֽד | gam-ʾe-ḥāḏ} ‘there is not even one,’ with gam ‘even’ and echad ‘one’ heightening the absoluteness of the judgment. The Hebrew structure front-loads the universal subject and uses parallel negations to underscore the total depravity of humanity. |