וְגַם־אֲנִי֙ נָתַ֣תִּי לָהֶ֔ם חֻקִּ֖ים לֹ֣א טֹובִ֑ים וּמִ֨שְׁפָּטִ֔ים לֹ֥א יִֽחְי֖וּ בָּהֶֽם׃
And I also gave to them statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live.
Morphology
- וְגַם־אֲנִי – Form: Conjunction + adverb + independent pronoun 1cs; Translation: “And I also”; Notes: Introduces another divine action, with emphasis on intensification.
- נָתַתִּי – Root: נָתַן; Form: Qal perfect 1cs; Translation: “I gave”; Notes: Refers to God’s action of delivering statutes or decrees.
- לָהֶם – Form: Preposition לְ + third mp suffix; Translation: “to them”; Notes: Refers to the people of Yisraʾel.
- חֻקִּים – Root: חֹק; Form: Noun masculine plural absolute; Translation: “statutes”; Notes: Laws or decrees, here presented ironically as “not good.”
- לֹא – Form: Negative particle; Translation: “not”; Notes: Negates quality of the statutes and judgments.
- טֹובִים – Root: טוֹב; Form: Adjective masculine plural; Translation: “good”; Notes: Modified by negation to stress harmful statutes.
- וּמִשְׁפָּטִים – Root: מִשְׁפָּט; Form: Conjunction + noun masculine plural absolute; Translation: “and judgments”; Notes: Legal rulings, here linked with death rather than life.
- לֹא – Form: Negative particle; Translation: “not”; Notes: Negates the verb following.
- יִחְיוּ – Root: חָיָה; Form: Qal imperfect 3mp; Translation: “they could live”; Notes: Refers to sustaining life, negated to indicate futility.
- בָּהֶם – Root: הֵם; Form: Preposition בְּ + third mp suffix; Translation: “by them / in them”; Notes: Refers to the false or imposed laws that bring no life.