| 48. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with haʼel {הָאֵל | hāʾēl} ‘the God’ as the subject. Two Hiphil participles—hanotēn {הַנֹּתֵן | hanōṯēn} ‘giving’ and umôrîḏ {וּמוֹרִיד | umôrîḏ} ‘bringing down’—form a parallel structure joined by the conjunction w-. The first participle governs neqāmōt {נְקָמֹת | nəqāmōt} ‘vengeances’ with the dative lî {לִי | lî} ‘for me’, highlighting divine retribution. The second participle takes ʿammîm {עַמִּים | ʿammîm} ‘peoples’ and the prepositional phrase taḥtēnî {תַּחְתֵּנִי | taḥtēnî} ‘under me’, expressing dominion. Rendering these participles as finite verbs preserves their aspectual force and clearly conveys God’s dual roles as avenger and sovereign. |