| 29. Linguistic Exegesis The causal conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} ‘because’ introduces a reason clause. The direct address attah {אַתָּה | ʾattâ} identifies the LORD {יְהוָה | Yəhōwāh} as addressee. The construct neiri {נֵירִי | nēyrî} ‘my lamp’ establishes a personal metaphor of divine guidance. In the second clause, the vav-consecutive vav {וַ | wa} on Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yəhōwāh} leads into the Hiphil imperfect yaggiah {יַגִּיהַּ | yaggîah} ‘will cause to shine,’ emphasizing divine agency. The parallel construct choshki {חָשְׁכִּי | khōškî} ‘my darkness’ forms a poetic antithesis of obscurity transformed into light. The repetition of the divine name intensifies the parallelism. |