| 12. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the Hiphil imperfect form oqir {אוֹקִ֥יר | ’ô-qîr} ‘I will make precious,’ signaling divine causation and future intent. Hebrew synonymous parallelism contrasts enosh {אֱנ֖וֹשׁ | ’enôš} ‘man, mortal’ with adam {וְאָדָ֖ם | ’ā-dām} ‘man, human,’ each linked by the comparative preposition min {מִן | mîn} in mî-pāz {מִפָּ֑ז | mî-pāz} ‘than fine gold’ and mî-kə-ṯem {מִכֶּתֶם | mî-kə-ṯem} ‘than pure gold.’ The repetition emphasizes human rarity under divine evaluation. The proper noun ’ô-pîr {אוֹפִיר | ’ô-pîr} identifies a historic gold-producing region, intensifying the comparison. The verb-subject-object structure with embedded comparatives foregrounds the scope of divine judgment. |