| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The address ben-adam {בֶּן־אָדָם | ben-ʾā-ḏām} ‘son of man’ functions as a prophetic titular formula emphasizing the prophet’s humanity. The coordinated imperatives chud {ח֥וּד | ḥûḏ} ‘pose’ and u-meshol {וּמְשֹׁ֣ל | û-mə-šōl} ‘speak’ command delivery of two literary forms: chidah {חִידָ֖ה | ḥî-ḏāh} ‘riddle,’ an enigmatic utterance prompting reflection, and mashal {מָשָׁ֑ל | mā-šāl} ‘parable,’ an illustrative narrative. The prepositional phrase el-bêṯ-yiś-rā-ʾêl {אֶל־בֵּ֖ית יִשְׂרָאֵֽל | ʾel-bêṯ-yiś-rā-ʾêl} specifies the corporate audience. Hebrew employs a minimal connective style with fronted imperatives for emphasis, while the English preserves the dual command and clarifies the recipient. |