b) The Linguistic Form and the Instances Let me begin with some comments about the linguistic form. Scholars are largely unanimous in defining the ‘formula-like’ instances,11 and these display some characteristic linguistic elements. In a number of cases the verb היה, ‘be’, is followed by a double להיות לך לאלהים ׃ל, ‘in order to be God for you’. This formulation can be found seven times (with a shift between לך, ‘for you’ singular, לכם, ‘for you’ plural, and להם, ‘for them’),12 while the corresponding